Hutton’s, the UK’s leading ship supplier, has agreed a partnership with Inov8 Science to become sole UK shipping and offshore distributor of its innovative air disinfection system which helps to prevent the airborne spread of a wide range of viruses and bacteria, including norovirus.
John MacDonald, General Manager of Hutton’s Medical says: “Hutton’s is at the forefront of improving seafarer health and when a product comes along which has such a drastic positive impact we have no hesitation in putting our resources behind it. This device is being used in UK hospitals to help prevent outbreaks of infection and it has the potential to become invaluable aboard ships too. In fact Hutton’s is so impressed by the product that we are installing one in our Head Office to prevent the spread of colds.”
The maritime benefit’s of Inov8 Science’s Air Disinfection unit include:
- Reduced outbreaks of norovirus on cruise ships
- Improving seafarer health and offshore workers health in enclosed working environments
- Reduced loss of working time due to illness
The system is already in use throughout the world including 14 UK hospitals, Mecca hospital and Government buildings in Bahrain. It has received a Health Protection Agency award in Smart Solutions for Healthcare Associated Infections. Inov8 Science is currently conducting tests specifically aimed at specific pathogens relevant to the shipping industry.
Keith Esdon,Inov8 Science Central Support Manager, explains how the system works: “Operating within enclosed spaces, the unit takes in the surrounding air before combining it with olefin (a natural compound responsible for the scent of plants and flowers) to create hydroxyl radicals (OH).This is a natural process but doesn’t usually take place within a contained environment because the component parts (a required mixture of ozone and plant olefins) are not present. We effectively duplicate the process that goes on outside within our machines.”
He continues: “Hydroxyl radicals take hydrogen from the proteins that make the cell walls of viruses and bacteria. They puncture the cell walls and render the virus mechanisms useless. In effect they change the way viruses work by altering their ability to do what they do. So our machine can effectively destroy the airborne viruses and bacteria in an enclosed environment like a ship.”
Inov8 Science says that within approximately one hour the unit can make a room 99.9% free of biological airborne material. The UK’s National Health Service estimates that around 30% of infections are caught via airborne methods of transfer.
