Environment sanitization

What is it and what’s the use of the environmental sanitization.

Very frequently we use the “environmental sanitization” confusing it with other measures aa cleaning or disinfection. They are not synonyms. 

Cleaning is the set of operations to delete the visible dirt, such as dust, spots, foreign matters, waste and bad smell. The cleaning is obtained through washing operations with the help of detergents. Once you have made it the environment has an immediate increase of hygienic and aesthetic value in a place. 

Disinfection is the next step to cleaning and it has the aim to reduce pathogens microorganisms. It’s made in closed environment and with the help of disinfectant detergents or other environmental disinfection ways.

There are situations in which, by law and for the life quality of people, a more detailed intervention must be made. In some cases sanitization and sterilization are applied in parallel in order to act on a massive scale on all forms of vegetative life, spores and virus.   

We now take a look at the value of environmental sanitization, why it’s so important to use it with perseverance in place such as clinics, offices, gyms, hospitals, industries and building.

5 things that you have to know about environmental sanitization

1. What’s the use of the environmental sanitization?
   The environmental sanitization is an operation to remove any bacteria and contaminants that, with common cleaning and detergents, is impossible to remove. It brings microbial and viral load within optimal hygiene standards. In the environmental sanitization not only cleaning and disinfection, but also disinfestation and rat control shall be carried out. These practices are aimed to delete parasites and vermin. Also the interventions to restore the indoor and outdoor appropriate microclimate are included in the environmental sanitization (temperature, ventilation, degree of humidity, dust presence).

2. When is environmental sanitization is carried out?
   It would be better to make the environmental sanitization not only in extraordinary way, but thinking it as an ordinary activity to respect the existing laws and in order to guarantee the health of the people. A lot of people spend about 85% of their time in closed places as offices, schools, house and gyms. We don’t notice that the air we breathe in the environments, is often contaminated because of the ventilation systems are not well-cleaned. There isn’t a right moment to make an environmental sanitization: it must be constant during the summer and in winter. We must know and require as workers, that in a lot of environments as offices, food sector, accommodation facilities, sanitary facilities, schools and hospitals, we can’t limit ourselves to the ordinary cleaning, but the aim is to make places healthy and free of risks of contamination.

3. What are the benefits of environmental sanitization?
   This intervention to produce effects and be in accordance with the law, must be carried out in the environments periodically and consistently. It is interesting to note how company costs are reduced in a sanitized habitat, because staff sick days are reduced. Enjoying a comfortable working environment, with sanitized air, corresponds to having a higher quality of life.
   The other benefits of environmental sanitization:

   • To break down bacteria, virus, mold and mashrooms;
   • To delete chemical and biological pollutant;
   • To delete allergens;
   • To reduce fine participles;
   • To remove bad smells;
   • To reduce sickness’ days in offices (sanitised air=life’s quality);
   • To improve work’s productivity;
   • To respect existing laws.

4. What are the environments in which cleaning and sanitizing is recommended?
   All the sanitization activities, to make the environments lined up to hygiene standards in order to reduce the microbiological load, must to be applied in all environments.

   They are very important in:

   Catering sector/hotels: in order to guarantee more pleasant spaces to stay in, it’s important that the food is prepared in hygienic conditions, in order to defend the health’s people.

   Hospitals: in order to guarantee to patients and technical staff a less exposed healthcare environment to the bacterial and viral contamination.

   Offices: in order to reduce the rate of sickness and to achieve the workers’ wellness and to have more productivity. How do we carry out? Through the sanitization of devices: tables, PC keyboard, phone, ventilation ducts and all the devices used every day by a lot of people.

   Workplaces and large aggregation points: it’s important that the periodic sanitization in very busy places such as gyms, characterized by a high degree of humidity. The steam contributes to the development of the formation of mold and fungi. Also shopping centers and the big commercial activities, junction points and exchange of many individuals, have the obligation to make environments without microbiological loads too high, by killing bacteria, virus, mold and fungi.

   Food sector: the sanitization is important in order to guarantee the best conservation of food and to avoid to cause contaminated delivery. Foods easily become a vehicle for disease and infection. To sanitize kitchens and the food-beverage’s transports is fundamental in order to maintain in good way the products and to avoid the bacteria and pathogens’ contamination.

   Residential sector: in order to guarantee more comfortable and healthy for people. In last years, the statistics related to the indoor air quality (IAQ) showed us a sharp increase in physical and microbiological pollutants in private environments and a deterioration of air’s quality. It’s a people’s right to live healthy, to breathe clean air and to use the common places safely.

5. Benefits of continuous sanitization
   The continuous sanitization, in the long-term rental formulation proposed by Sanixair, becomes more affordable than the periodic sanitization’s interventions. It guarantees a constant air quality level.

   Thanks to IoT system, in partnership with Microsoft through the Azure innovative platform, the system operation is constantly remotely monitored and permits to manage in real time anomalies detected by effective alert.

   Choose Sanixair in order to rely on leader who from 20 years take care to select advanced technologies, that can be integrated into a sanitising target system, adaptable to every single context and need, in order to permanently and effective face the indoor and outdoor air sanitization.

   We care about your health and the enhancement of everyday environments.

Intervention program

A mix of technologies for effective, continuous, natural sanitation

There are several technologies that allow the sanitation of environments. Some of these mimic processes that occur in nature, do not involve the use of disinfectants or sanitizers, or consumables, and are therefore both effective and environmentally friendly.

Let's see some of them:
Ionization is a process by which a wind of negative ions is generated, recreating an effect similar to the crisp air that you breathe after a storm or near a waterfall. Here are some effects: It increases the flow of oxygen to the brain, improving mental and cognitive performance. It generates positive energy and helps to reduce states of depression. It is very effective for relieving seasonal discomfort such as allergies, asthma, cough and irritation, and in general it produces benefits on all respiratory diseases. It also tends to agglomerate (increase in caliber) fine particles, making them less dangerous for our pulmonary alveoli.

Photocatalysis is produced through devices that generate a process which replicates the reaction between solar radiation (UV-C) and some elements to reduce the contaminants present in the air, transforming the relative humidity of air (H20) in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), which is hydrogen peroxide. In particular, its effectiveness in eliminating the so-called V.O.C. (Volatile Organic Compound), formaldehyde and other toxic organic compounds. Effectively reduces bacterial and viral loads, eliminates fungi, molds, yeasts, nitrogen oxides and reduces odors.

The painting with photocatalytic paints or the coating with photocatalytic ceramics allows to neutralize the pollutants present in the air, transforming them into other neutral and harmless substances. It would have seemed impossible, but it is proven that photocatalytic paints reduce pollutants by up to 88.8% and eliminate 99.9% of mold and bacteria. They reduce the consumption of electricity because they multiply the solar radiation. They prevent dirt from settling on the walls and reduce bad smells. They adapt to indoor and outdoor environments.

In our idea, sanitation is so important for well-being that it must take place continuously, permanently guaranteeing a microbiologically pure air, regardless of the contaminating events that may occur over time. The best solution for us is a mix of technologies, which we combine with each other according to the specific context, with a system active 24/7.

Lucio Lecchini - Sanixair Technical Director, lighting expert and author of countless patents

Effectiveness of environmental sanitation against Covid-19

Phase 1 – Sanitation of hospitals through hydrogen peroxide

Because of Covid 19 Pandemic in Italy is necessary apply strict rules to block the infection, first of all within the health facilities where they were identified and assisted patients affected by covid19. In the first days when emergency began, the Circular of 22/02 of the Ministry of Health: "COVID-19 clarifies in detail the sanitation protocols to be followed in hospitals. The circular is addressed to all health structures and contains numerous recommendations for all operators and emergency services. The document clarifies the optimal measures for the prevention and control of spaces where there are patients affected by Covid-19. The document recommends daily environmental sanitization of all rooms used for isolation and suggests a very frequent disinfection of the contact surfaces by the patient and of the areas where health workers dress and take off Personal Protective Equipment.
According to the sector literature, Coronaviruses, such as SARS or MERS, persisted on surfaces for up to 9 days. For this reason, in the circular it is considered basic and very important to follow the professional hospital sanitation protocol. The Ministry of Health clearly reports the list of the most suitable substances for the sanitation of hospitals in the event of Covid-19. Among these, hydrogen peroxide (0.5%), together with sodium hypochlorite (0.1% -0.5%) and ethanol (62-71%).

Phase 2 – Efficacy of hydrogen peroxide on covid-19

With Phase 2, the need for effective sanitization procedures emerged in family environments and in the workspaces such as shops and offices, factories, warehouses etc. Making our places safe was, and must continue to be, the first symbol of a peaceful and lasting restart.
There is a conflict between information coming from all over the world, the ISS (Istituto Superiore della Sanità) has released the ISS COVID-19 Report n. 25/2020 with all the "Interim Recommendations on the sanitation of non-health facilities in the current COVID-19 emergency: surfaces, interiors and clothing." The report is a conspicuous handbook for orienting oneself on authorized disinfectants. Therefore, in this document the vaporization / aerosolization of hydrogen peroxide carried out through specific machinery stands out.