Science tells us that portable air filters reduce infection risk. It's time for public health authorities to make this clear

Tianyuan Li; Amy Katz; Jo-Ann Osei-Twum; LLana James; Victor Leung; Paul Bozek; Nav Persaud; Patricia O'Campo; Jeffrey A Siegel

doi:10.1016/j.jiph.2024.102650

Science tells us that portable air filters reduce infection risk. It's time for public health authorities to make this clear

J Infect Public Health. 2025 Jan 8;18(3):102650. doi: 10.1016/j.jiph.2024.102650. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Tianyuan Li¹, Amy Katz², Jo-Ann Osei-Twum³, LLana James⁴, Victor Leung⁵, Paul Bozek³, Nav Persaud⁶, Patricia O'Campo⁷, Jeffrey A Siegel⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].
² MAP, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada; Faculty of Information, University of Toronto, 140 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G6, Canada.
³ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada.
⁴ Canada-US Coalition to End Race Correction and Health Systems Transformation, AI, Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences Fellow, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6, Canada.
⁵ Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z7, Canada; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z7, Canada; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, St Paul's Hospital, Providence Health Care, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y6, Canada.
⁶ MAP, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada.
⁷ MAP, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, 30 Bond St, Toronto, Ontario M5B 1W8, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada.
⁸ Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 3M7, Canada; Department of Civil & Mineral Engineering, 35 St. George St, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A4, Canada.

PMID: 39818145
DOI: 10.1016/j.jiph.2024.102650

Abstract

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian public health advisors and politicians have shared mixed messages about the utility of portable air filters (PAFs) for mitigating the transmission of airborne infectious diseases. Some public health advisors and decision-makers have also suggested that PAFs are cumbersome or require expert advice. We take this opportunity to review evidence and address myths about PAFs. In short, PAFs are an important tool to help reduce the risk of transmission of airborne infectious diseases. Moreover, PAFs are relatively simple to use, and there is a variety of high-quality guidance available for their deployment. We share this science here with the expectation that, going forward, public health authorities will position PAFs appropriately in infection prevention and control plans for both health care and community settings.

Keywords: Air change per hour; Airborne; COVID-19; Filtration; Indoor air quality; Infection prevention and control; Infectious diseases; Public health.

Publication types

Review