{"id":10206,"date":"2020-03-18T10:30:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-18T09:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trotec-blog.com\/en\/?p=10206"},"modified":"2020-04-03T16:07:50","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T14:07:50","slug":"when-viruses-are-exposed-to-ozone-they-are-completely-destroyed-by-the-extra-oxygen-atom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trotec-blog.com\/en\/trotec\/when-viruses-are-exposed-to-ozone-they-are-completely-destroyed-by-the-extra-oxygen-atom\/","title":{"rendered":"When viruses are exposed to ozone they are completely destroyed by the extra oxygen atom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Ozone is a triatomic form of oxygen that humans breathe in diatomic form. Ozone is the second most powerful disinfectant in the world, and it is used to destroy bacteria, viruses and odours. The great advantage of ozone as a gas compared to other disinfectants is that it can spread everywhere, even in inaccessible areas, uniformly and within minutes.<\/h2>\n

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But what is ozone actually?<\/h3>\n

Ozone is sometimes also called “activated oxygen”. O\u00b3 is the triatomic form of oxygen. Although most people don’t know it, ozone occurs quite frequently in nature, for example, from a lightning strike during a thunderstorm. In fact, this “fresh, clean, spring rain” smell we perceive after a thunderstorm results from the natural production of ozone. Waterfalls, too, produce ozone naturally.<\/p>\n

And how does ozone work?<\/h3>\n

Ozone is a very powerful oxidising agent. Surprisingly, it has a very short life span, however. When ozone is exposed to odours, bacteria or viruses, these are completely destroyed by the extra oxygen atom. During this process, the extra oxygen atom is used up as well and nothing is left behind \u2013 no smell, no bacteria, just pure oxygen. In addition to the effectiveness of ozone, today we also know that it is a safe to use disinfectant.<\/p>\n

Is ozone dangerous to humans?<\/h3>\n

Whether it is dangerous or not depends on the concentration. According to our current knowledge, contact with ozone in low concentrations, below 0.1 ppm, has no effect on our health, apart from the unpleasant odour associated with ozone. Use of ozone in low concentrations is therefore not dangerous because we are able to smell ozone even in very low concentrations. Even at low concentrations, the smell of ozone is perceived to be so repulsive that we would not last 5 minutes in this kind of environment. It is just like entering a room full of smoke. Ozone is already used in dentistry in order to treat superficial, epithelial changes and inflammations like ulcers and aphthae, as well as in periodontal treatment. Ozone treatment in caries therapy provides effective surface decontamination when used against initial caries, newly cavitated carious lesions and milk tooth caries, since it is proven to reduce pathogenic microorganisms. In contrast, ozone in high concentrations, as required to combat viruses, is dangerous and harmful to your health. Therefore, ozone devices should be used by trained personnel only.<\/p>\n

Ozone to disinfect rooms to combat coronaviruses<\/h3>\n

Ozone allows surfaces to be effectively decontaminated and, above all, quickly, without the need for another disinfectant. The great advantage of ozone as a gas is that it spreads everywhere, even in inaccessible areas, uniformly and within minutes. It does do even in places that are difficult or impossible to reach for liquid disinfectants. However, considering the current situation, a disinfectant would offer “added” safety in this case. Entire aeroplanes, buses, trains, production halls, workshops or corona test facilities can thus be disinfected. And this happens without the personnel-resource and cost-intensive use of chemicals or fogging. This is because studies have shown that 99% of viruses are rendered harmless after just 30 seconds of treatment with high ozone concentrations.<\/p>\n

Airozon 5000 and Airozon Supercracker \u2013 two versus the coronavirus<\/h3>\n

Trotec provides the ozone generators you need to conduct this kind of disinfection task \u2013 or visit our TKL rental division if you only need one temporarily: the Airozon 5000 and the Airozon Supercracker \u2013 both produce the highly effective ozone concentration required to do so. This is because the permitted rate of ozone exposure for a given individual (0.1 ppm for 8 hours or 0.3 ppm for 15 min) according to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency) is not enough to combat a virus such as the Sars-CoV-2 virus.<\/p>\n