Sterilizing and Reusing N95 Respirators

Overview
Personal protection equipment (“PPE”)includes the gloves, gowns, N95 respiratory masks, and other items required by doctors, nurses, andother healthcare personnelresponsible for treating patients, including those suffering from infectious diseases.  As has become evident in the current COVID-19 emergency affecting the globe, during a crisis, these critical items may not always be available in the quantities needed to meet the challenge of treating large numbers of sick people.

Among the most sought after PPE items today are N95 respirators. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), N95 respirators are essential gear to protect the wearer from airborne particles and to keep liquid materials from contaminating the wearer’s face. Now, more than ever, there is a need for readily available, sterile N95 respirators.

Challenge/Solution
Thus far, during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed a desperate struggle by public and private sector entities to keep up with the huge increasein N95 respirator usage which, in turn, has at times left healthcare workers and other front-line personnel without the equipment necessary to safely do their jobs. Traditionally, N95 respirators have been discarded after a single use and, while on-shore production has recently ramped up, demand for the masks far outstrips supply during the present period in which the number of COVID-19 cases surges daily.

Fortunately, as medical providers and first responders scramble to procure the safety products required to attend to the patients in their care, businesses are innovating to meet the significant challenge posed by the current respirator supply/demand mismatch.

For instance, in late March of 2020, Battelle, a Columbus, OH-based nonprofit research and development firm, received FDA approval for its Critical Care Decontamination System (“CCDS”) process for decontaminating, on a very large scale, the N95 face masks used by healthcare providers. The CCDS process involves pumping concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor (H₂O₂) into so-called decontamination chambers (20-foot shipping containers fitted with racks on which the N95 masks are hung) for a 2 ½ hour decontamination cycle. So long as the masks have not been heavily soiled, the CCDS process will allow each N95 respirator to be sterilized and reused up to 20 times. The system is highly scalable, and Battelle, which intends to deploy CCDS as needed throughout the U.S., believes that its larger versions should be capable of sterilizing up to 80,000 N95 masks per day.

Additionally, in early April, the FDA granted STERIS, another Ohio-based company, an Emergency Use Authorization (“EUA”) to begin, on a temporary basis, small-scale N95 sterilization, pursuant to which certain of the company’s V-PRO Low Temperature Sterilization System machines are approved to sterilize up to 10 masks apiece per 28 minute vaporized hydrogen peroxide sterilization cycle. STERIS reportedly has 100 such V-PRO machines across the State of Ohio which have the capacity to sterilize N95 respirators as provided for in the EUA, and each re-sterilized mask is reusable up to 10 times by repeating the V-PRO process.

Hydrogen Peroxide Vapor
Hydrogen peroxide vapor (“H₂O₂”)is a widely used gaseous sterilant that has been shown to be effective in killing viruses, fungi, bacteria, and other pathogens, and H₂O₂ decontamination is a standard process used in pharmaceutical, research, and medical facilities.H₂O₂ vapor works by breaking apart the outer membranes of the pathogen to which it is applied, thereby destroying thedangerous microorganism.

Hydrogen peroxide is a colorless gas with a sharp odor. Exposure to H₂O₂ can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and skin, as well as cause headaches, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting. Long-term exposure can negatively affect the lungs, producing coughing and shortness of breath, and elevated levels of hydrogen peroxide may result in a build-up of fluid in the lungs (a dangerous condition known as pulmonary edema). The current OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL) standard is 1 part of hydrogen peroxide parts per million(ppm).

Gas Detection is Crucial for Personnel Safety
Facilities using concentrated hydrogen peroxide vapor to decontaminate PPE or other medical equipment needto ensure that employees are not exposed to H₂O₂ at levels greater than OSHA’s PEL of 1ppm. Since it is always present, the odor from H₂O₂ vapor does not provide warning that hazardous H₂O₂ concentrations may exist. Therefore, in the absence of appropriate monitoring, it is impossible to determine whether hydrogen peroxide concentrations are approaching dangerous levels.

Best practices call for installation of hydrogen peroxide monitors anywhere H₂O₂ is stored or used.

PureAire Monitors

PureAire Monitoring Systems’ Universal Gas Detectors use “smart” sensor cell technology to continuously track levels of ammonia, bromine, hydrogen, hydrogen chloride, and other toxic gases, including hydrogen peroxide. The sensor cell is programmed to monitor for a specific gas and measurement range, as required by the user.

PureAire’s Universal Gas Detectors allow operators of medical decontamination facilities and systems to detect elevated hydrogen peroxide levels before employee health is put at risk. In the event that H₂O₂ is elevated to an unsafe level, the Universal Gas Detector will set off an alarm that includes horns and flashing lights, alerting staff to vacate the affected area.

The Universal Gas Detector’s easy to read screen makes it simple for employees to monitor hydrogen peroxide levels at a glance, providing them with the assurance that their health is not jeopardized while they perform their important work.

Protecting Precious Cargo: Safety Monitoring at IVF and Cryogenic Facilities

Overview

In March 2018, at two separate fertility clinics, one in Clevelandand the other in San Francisco, the cryogenic tanks storing eggs and embryos malfunctioned, resulting in devastating losses for couples hoping to conceive children.

Nationwide, as of December 2019, there were more than 440 sites that store embryos or eggs in specialized storage tanks of liquid nitrogen, but there are no national laws--and few state standards--governing how, or for how long, the reproductive materials contained therein must be stored.

Publicized failures that have caused the destruction of over 4000 patient eggs, embryos, sperm, and reproductive tissue have heightened the awareness of patients, laboratories, and storage entities to the potential risks and liabilities of cryostorage.

In recent years, as certain health plans and insurance companieshave increased coverage offertility treatments, more couples have turned to fertility clinics to improve their chances of starting families.

How Oxygen Monitors Protect IVF and Cryogenic Facilities 

Wherever liquid nitrogen (LN₂) is used, there are risks associated with nitrogen leaks. Nitrogen displaces oxygen, and a leak deprives the air of oxygen, thereby creating a potential health hazard for storage facility staff. When there is not enough oxygen in the air, persons working in the area can become disoriented, lose consciousness,or even suffocate due to the lack of oxygen. Since nitrogen lacks color and odor, there is no way for employees to detect a leak using the senses. Moreover, a nitrogen leak could lead to failure of the cryopreservation tanks storing genetic materials. In order to ensure the safety of employees, and the viability of the materials, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and cryopreservation facilities rely on oxygen monitors.

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, facilities using liquid nitrogen should implement a series of quality control steps to monitor LN₂ levels and refill tanks as necessary for proper cryostorage maintenance. Among the recommendations is the installation of oxygen monitors to avert or minimize the effects of potentially serious cryostorage accidents caused by LN₂ leaks.

PureAire Oxygen Monitors

PureAire Monitoring Systems’ oxygen monitors continually sample the air, taking periodic readings of current oxygen levels. PureAire oxygen monitors are ideally suited for use in acryogenic storage facility, because the monitors can withstand temperatures as low as -40C.

In the event of a nitrogen leak, and a decrease in oxygen to a pre-set alarm level, thePureAire monitor’s built-in horn will sound, and lights will begin to flash, thereby providing notification to the facility staff of the possible impending danger to the precious stored materials. The same alert enables employees to take care of their own personal safety, including exiting the area, if necessary.

Best practice calls for oxygen monitors to be placed wherever nitrogen is used or stored.
PureAire Monitoring Systems monitors feature long-lasting zirconium sensors, which are designed to provide accurate readings, without calibration, for up to 10 years. Cryogenic facilities appreciate the ease of use and reliability of PureAire Monitoring Systems products.

Consumers Have No Beef Eating Plant-Based Meats

Overview
How about meat without involving animals? Move over, veggie burgers; food companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, among others, have created plant-based meats that smell, taste, and look (imagine a thick, juicy hamburger) like the real thing. Unlike traditional veggie burgers, made from soy and bean paste, which have been marketed primarily to vegetarians, these companies are wooing and winning over a new group of customer-so-called “flexitarians”- consumers who do eat (or, at least, desire the taste and texture of) meat but, for health or sustainability reasons, want to reduce their meat consumption. According to Barclays Investment Bank, roughly one-third of Americans, or 100 million people, follow a flexitarian diet and that number is expected to rise.

Plant-Based Burgers
Impossible Foods, which makes the Impossible Burger, and Beyond Meat, the company responsible for the Beyond Burger, are perhaps the most well-known producers of meats whose ingredients are derived from plants. Although their ingredients and manufacturing processes are not identical, both companies seek to replicate the essential qualities of a hamburger derived from cows: texture (Impossible and Beyond both utilize various plant proteins); fat/marbling (both companies use coconut oil, as well as other cooking oils); coloring (Impossible relies on soy leghemoglobin, or “heme”, while Beyond uses beet and apple extracts); and flavor (both use natural flavors, and the “heme” that Impossible uses for color also enhances the flavor profile of its products.

Growing Availability and Popularity of Plant-Based Meats
For an industry that barely existed five years ago, the plant-based meat sector is experiencing spectacular growth, and over 50,000 grocery stores and restaurants, including Safeway, Whole Foods, Burger King, Subway, White Castle, KFC, and Carl’s Jr., now carry products from Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods.

And burgers are not the only choice when it comes to plant-based meats. Other options include chicken, pork, and sausages. In August of 2019, after a successful trial run in New York City, Dunkin’ Donuts announced it was rolling out a breakfast sandwich made with Beyond Meat sausages in 9,000 of its stores. Likewise, after selling out of the new plant-based Beyond Fried Chicken in Atlanta, KFC is introducing the product at other locations throughout the South.

According to the Good Food Institute, the value of the U.S. plant-based meat market was $801 Million for the year ending April 2019. Furthermore, investment firm UBS projects growth of plant-based protein and meat alternatives to increase from $4.6 billion in 2018 to $85 billion in 2030.

Gas Usage in Facilities Producing Plant-Based Meats
Food safety compliance is critically important in the food industry and, to continue to grow their sales and increase market acceptance, producers must ensure that their plant-based meats are as safe to consume as non-plant-based meats. Safety requirements dictate that plant-based hamburger, sausage, chicken, and other products be rapidly chilled and/or frozen during the production process and before they can be shipped to restaurant or grocery outlets. As such, modern freezing technology, including the use of tunnel freezers, is essential to the ongoing success of the plant-based meat industry.

Tunnel freezers work by rapidly freezing foods using cryogenic gases, such as liquid nitrogen (LN2) or carbon dioxide (CO2). The food items are placed on a conveyor belt, which carries them into the freezer, where an injection system (utilizing either liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide), together with fans circulating the gas-chilled air, ensures that all food products are quickly and evenly frozen.

Oxygen Monitors Can Improve Safety in Plant-Based Food Manufacturing

While the use of liquid nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide is important in the production of plant-based meats, it is not without risk. LN2 and CO2 are both oxygen depleting gases, and oxygen deprivation could put employees in real danger if there are gas leaks from freezer supply lines or exhaust systems, or from on-site gas storage containers. In the event of a leak, plant personnel could become disoriented, lose consciousness, or even suffocate from breathing oxygen-deficient air. Since LN2 and CO2 are both colorless and odorless, workers would, in the absence of appropriate monitoring, have no way of knowing that there has in fact been a leak. By utilizing a top-quality oxygen monitor, safety and production personnel can track oxygen levels and detect leaks before workers’ health is jeopardized.

PureAire Water-Resistant Dual O2/CO2 Monitors
PureAire Monitoring Systems’ water-resistant dual oxygen/carbon dioxide monitors offer thorough air monitoring, with no time-consuming maintenance or calibration required. A screen displays current oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, for at-a-glance reading by employees, who derive peace of mind from the monitor’s presence and reliable performance. In the event of a nitrogen or carbon dioxide leak, and a decrease in oxygen to an unsafe level, the monitor will set off an alarm, complete with horns and lights, alerting personnel to evacuate the area.

PureAire’s dual oxygen/carbon dioxide monitor is housed in an IP67 water resistant enclosure that will keep the electronics dry during wash-downs, and the monitor will remain accurate at extremely low temperatures. That makes it ideally suited for environments, such as plant-based food processing facilitiesthat use liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Built with zirconium oxide sensor cells and non-dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR) cells to ensure longevity, PureAire’s water-resistant dual O2/CO2 monitors can last, trouble-free, for over 10 years under normal operating conditions.

Cannabis Extraction Safety

In 1996, California passed Proposition 215, making it the first of many states to ultimately legalize medical cannabis; as of January 2020, an additional 32 states and the District of Columbia have also made medical cannabis legal. Additionally, recreational use of cannabis is now legal in 11 states and is decriminalized in many others. Cannabis legalization and decriminalization have made cannabidiol (“CBD”, a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis), and tetrahydrocannabinol(“THC”, the chemical responsible for most of cannabis' mind-altering effects), available to both recreational users and patients seeking treatment for such health issues as arthritis, anxiety, inflammation, seizure disorders, and nausea.

Since California’s groundbreaking move in 1996, medical and recreational cannabis has become a significant and rapidly growing industry. According to DC-based cannabis researcher, New Frontier Data, legal cannabis sales in the U.S. are expected to reach $30 billion annually by 2025. The industry growth has led to a substantial increase in grow rooms, medical dispensaries and other retail outlets, and extraction facilities.

Extraction
Extraction is a process by which desired chemical compounds are extracted and separated from the cannabis plant. Extraction strips the plant of essential oils, including CBD, THC, and terpenes (aromatic oils that give cannabis plants their distinctive scents). The extracted oils can be utilized in vape pens, edibles, capsules, tinctures, and topical solutions. Based on the end product, various techniques can be used for extracting the oils, including carbon dioxide (CO2) extraction and hydrocarbon solvent extraction (using solvents such as butane or propane).

Carbon Dioxide Extraction
Carbon dioxide, high pressure, and heat can be combined to create a “supercritical fluid” that extracts cannabis components from the plant. The CO2 extraction method generally produces high yields with relatively little waste. Temperatures and pressures can be adjusted to create multiple products including vaporizer oils; dabbing concentrates such as so-called waxes, crumble, shatters, and saps; and distillates (cannabis extracts that have been further purified and processed to separate and isolate the various cannabinoids, which include CBD and THC). Because CO2 evaporates on its own, many in the medical products and food and beverage industries find the CO2 extraction method appealing, since no residual carbon dioxide remains in the final manufactured product.

Hydrocarbon Solvents Extraction
Hydrocarbon extraction typically uses organic solvents such as butane and propane to separate essential oils from the plant material. The use of hydrocarbons for extraction is popular owing, in large part, to the relatively low overhead costs, efficiency (including the wide variety of products that can be created from a single extraction, without the need for further refinement), and high product quality associated with this technique. For instance, the low boiling point of butane, and even lower boiling point of propane, allow extractors to remove the desired compounds without risking evaporation of, or damage to, the delicate and heat-sensitive cannabinoids and terpenes. Moreover, their low boiling points makes it relatively easy to purge any residual butane or propane at the end of the extraction process, leaving behind only a relatively pure product.

Oxygen Monitors Can Protect Extractors and Their Employees
 While CO2 and hydrocarbon solvents are important techniques for extracting essential oils from cannabis plants use of these gases is not without risk, since extraction facility personnel and property are exposed to potential leaks from gas supply lines and storage containers.

Carbon dioxide is an oxygen-depleting gas that is both odorless and colorless. As such, absent appropriate monitoring to detect that a leak has occurred, extraction employees could become dizzy, lose consciousness, and even suffocate from breathing oxygen-deficient air. Hydrocarbons such as butane and propane also deplete oxygen and, they are flammable and explosive as well.

Proper gas detection equipment should be placed where the cannabis extraction process takes place, as well as in CO2 and hydrocarbon storage rooms, and in any other site where CO2, butane, and propane may be expected to accumulate. The gas detection equipment should include the capacity to activate visual and audible alarms, stopping the flow of gas and turning on the ventilation system.

PureAire Monitors

PureAire Monitoring Systems has safety monitors to meet the needs of cannabis extractors, whether they use CO2 or hydrocarbon solvents.

For facilities using carbon dioxide to extract their products, PureAire’s line of dual oxygen/carbon dioxide monitors offer thorough air monitoring, with no time-consuming maintenance or calibration required. The O2/CO2 monitor comes with user-adjustable alarm setpoints for both oxygen and carbon dioxide. The monitor is built with zirconium oxide sensor cells and non-dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR)cells, to ensure longevity.PureAire’s O2/CO2 monitors can last, trouble-free, for over 10 years under normal operating conditions.

Extractors utilizing hydrocarbon solvents, such as butane or propane, rely on PureAire’s LEL, explosion-proof, combustible gas monitors. The monitor is housed in a NEMA 4 enclosure specifically designed to prevent an explosion. The durable, long-life LEL catalytic sensor will last 5+ years without needing to be replaced.

PureAire monitors feature an easy to read screen, which displays current oxygen levels for at-a-glance observation by employees, who derive peace of mind from the monitor’s presence and reliable performance. In the event of a gas leak, or a drop in oxygen to an unsafe OSHA action level, PureAire’s monitors will set off alarms, complete with horns and flashing lights, alerting personnel to evacuate the area. At the same time, the monitors can be programmed to turn off the flow of gas (CO2, butane, or propane, as appropriate), and turn on the ventilation system.

In short, PureAire’s monitors enable cannabis extractors, in a cost-effective manner, to preserve both the quality of their products and the well-being of their employees.

What Is Up With Helium

Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe and used across a variety of industries. Valued for more than simply filling party balloons, helium is of critical importance in many commercial applications, including high-tech, automotive, healthcare, and aerospace.

Helium Uses
For instance, the manufacture of fiber optics requires an all-helium environment to prevent air bubbles or other flaws in the delicate fibers used in cables to transmit data. Additionally, the semiconductor industry utilizes the cooling properties of helium to transfer heat away from computer chips during manufacturing.

Helium plays a key role in inflating automobile airbags and may also be used to detect leaks in car air-conditioning systems. Metal fabricators use helium for welding because of its inert properties and high heat transfer capabilities, which make it the perfect shielding gas (an inert or semi-inert gas that protects the weld from oxygen and water) for welding materials with high heat conductivity, such as copper, magnesium alloys, and aluminum.

In the medical field, helium is used to cool the superconducting magnets in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) equipment, to treat medical conditions such as asthma and emphysema, andfor laparoscopic surgery.

NASA uses helium as an inert purge gas for hydrogen systems and as a pressurizing agent for ground and flight fluid systems, as well as a cryogenic agent for cooling various materials. Moreover, as in the automotive sector, helium is likewise used in precision welding applications in aerospace manufacturing.

Staying Safe While Working with Helium
Since helium is odorless and colorless, it has no early warning properties. Helium can displace oxygen in the air to levels below what is needed for humans to breathe. Exposure to helium can cause dizziness, nausea, and loss of consciousness. Absent proper oxygen monitoring, unconsciousness, and even death may occur in seconds. The National Institutes for Health recommends installing oxygen monitors anywhere compressed gases, such as helium, are stored or used.

PureAire Monitors

PureAire Monitoring Systems’ oxygen deficiency monitors continuously track levels of oxygen and will detect helium leaks before the health of employees is put at risk. Built with zirconium oxide sensor cells, to ensure longevity, PureAire’s O2 deficiency monitors can last, trouble-free, for over 10 years under normal operating conditions. In the event of a helium gas leak, and a decrease in oxygen to an unsafe, OSHA action level, the monitor will set off an alarm, replete with horns and flashing lights, alerting staff and users to evacuate the area.

Each PureAire O2 monitor has an easy to read screen, which displays current oxygen levels, for at-a-glance readings by employees, who derive peace of mind from the monitor’s presence and reliability.

Fast, Frozen, Convenience-Tunnel Freezers

Frozen foods first became commercially viable in the 1930s, thanks in large part to Clarence Birdseye. He is credited with inventing the double-belt freezer, the forerunner to modern quick-freeze technology, which includes the tunnel freezers used by most major food processors in North America.

Frozen foods offer many benefits to today’s busy consumers, including convenience; minimal processing, with few to no preservatives; a long spoilage-free product shelf life; and, especially when compared with canned foods, superior taste, since the ingredients are quick-frozen at their peak of freshness. Seasonal foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are, once they have been frozen, now available year-round. In the same way, people living in landlocked locations can enjoy fresh-frozen seafood, no matter the distance from the coast. And, through the near magic of quick-frozen partially baked bread products, we can consume bakery-quality goods at home, straight out of the ovens in our own kitchens.

Still, even as Mr. Birdseye’s invention made frozen foods available to mass consumers in the first place nearly a century ago, so, too, have more recent innovations in freezing technology, including new freezer types, such as tunnel freezers using cryogenic gases, greatly improved the quality and, therefore, the market acceptance, of frozen foods. These freezers very quickly “flash freeze” foods at extremely low temperatures, such that the foods maintain essentially all of their original freshness, flavor, and texture.

How Tunnel Freezers Work

Tunnel freezers work by rapidly freezing food using cryogenic gases, such as liquid nitrogen (LN₂) or carbon dioxide (CO₂). The fresh food items are placed on a conveyor belt, which carries them into the freezer, where an injection system (utilizing either liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide), together with fans circulating the gas-chilled air, ensure that all food surfaces are quickly and evenly frozen.

Food products frozen in cryogenic tunnel freezers, including all manner of proteins, fruits, vegetables, and parbaked bread and dough items, are ultimately shipped to grocery chains and warehouse superstores; operators of quick service, fast casual, and fine dining restaurants; and school and hospital cafeterias, among other places, and they are enjoyed daily by millions of hungry people.

Monitoring Can Protect Food Processing Employees

While the use of liquid nitrogen and/or carbon dioxide is essential in that part of the quick-frozen food processing industry using tunnel freezer technology, it is not without risk. LN₂ and CO₂ are both oxygen-depleting gases, and oxygen deprivation could put employees in real danger if there are gas leaks from freezer supply lines or exhaust systems, or from on-site gas storage containers. In the event of a leak, plant personnel could become disoriented, lose consciousness, or even suffocate from breathing oxygen-deficient air. Since liquid nitrogen and carbon dioxide are both colorless and odorless, workers would, in the absence of appropriate monitoring, have no way of knowing that there has in fact been a gas leak.

PureAire Water-Resistant Dual O2/CO2 Monitors 

PureAire Monitoring Systems’ water-resistant dual oxygen/carbon dioxide monitors offer thorough air monitoring, with no time-consuming maintenance or calibration required. A screen displays current oxygen and carbon dioxide levels for at-a-glance reading by employees, who derive peace of mind from the monitor’s presence and reliable performance.

In the event of a nitrogen or carbon dioxide leak, and a decrease in oxygen to an unsafe level, the monitor will set off an alarm, complete with horns and flashing lights, alerting personnel to evacuate the area.

PureAire’s dual oxygen/carbon dioxide monitor is housed in an IP67 water resistant enclosure that will keep the electronics dry during wash-downs and will remain accurate at extremely low temperatures.That makes the monitor ideally suited for facilities using liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide, such as frozen food processing plants with tunnel freezers. Built with zirconium oxide sensor cells and non-dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR)cells to ensure longevity, PureAire’s dual O2/CO2 monitors can last, trouble-free, for over 10 years under normal operating conditions.

Gas Detectors Can Ensure Chlorine Safety in Swimming Pools

In April 2019, six people became sick after being exposed to chlorine gas at a hotel pool in India, because one of the chlorine gas cylinders, which had been stored improperly, began to leak, exposing swimmers to chlorine gas.  In June 2019, some 50 pool patrons became ill after a pump malfunction leaked chlorine gas at an indoor pool in Utah. These are not isolated events.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, exposure and inhalation of pool chemicals, including chlorine fumes and gases, account for approximately 4,500 emergency room visits each year.
Accidental exposure to chlorine gas, such as the incidents in Utah and India, can cause individuals to have trouble in breathing, burning sensation in the nose, throat, and eyes, as well as blurred vision, coughing, chest tightness, nausea, and vomiting
Learn how to keep swimmers and employees safe at your facility.

Chlorine Treatment

Chlorine, a powerful, corrosive disinfectant, is used in pools and hot tubs to kill harmful bacteria and prevent waterborne outbreaks such as Cryptosporidium (a parasite that causes diarrhea) andLegionella (the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease), in addition to swimmer’s ear and “hot tub rash”. Contrary to popular belief, while chlorine does have a distinct odor, an overwhelmingly strong scent of chlorine can actually indicate that not enough chlorine is being used.
As chlorine mixes with unwanted substances in the water, such as urine, and sweat, chloramines are produced. Chloramines result from the ammonia in urine and sweat reacting to chlorine. It is chloramine that causes the condition known to swimmers as “red eye”.

Protection Against Accidental Chlorine Gas Leaks

While chlorine is essential to keep pools crystal clear and sanitary, it must be carefully monitored, and pool equipment rooms properly maintained, with appropriate safety equipment.
According to the California Association of Environmental Health Administrators, every public indoor swimming pool and spa should have an audible and visible chlorine detection alarm system located in the room containing chlorine gas equipment. The gas detection system shall continuously monitor the room and, if chlorine concentrations exceed the permissible exposure limit of 0.5ppm, activate an alarm, turn off the chlorine at the source, and turn on the ventilation system.Ideally, the monitoring system will have an audible alarm that is at least 90 decibels and have visible strobe lights.

PureAire Monitors

PureAire Monitoring Systems’ universal gas detectors use “smart” sensor cells technology to continuously track levels of ammonia, bromine, hydrogen, hydrogen chloride, and other toxic gases, including chlorine. The sensor cell is programmed to monitor for a specific gas and measurement range, as required by the user.

Indoor pool facilities using a PureAire universal gas detector can detect elevated chlorine levels before the health of pool staff or patrons is put at risk.  In the event of a chlorine leak, and the elevation of chlorine to an unsafe level, the gas detector will set off an alarm that includes horns and flashing lights, and turn on the ventilation system, alerting pool staff and swimmers to evacuate the area.
An easy to read screen makes it simple for pool staff members to monitor chlorine levels at a glance, giving them peace of mind.