Written by: Husna Sultana
Air purifiers for Evidence rooms
Protecting the ones who protect us!
Police officers are keepers of the law. To maintain law and order, they face many dangerous situations in the course of their day-to-day work. Not only do they have occupational hazards outdoors, but they also face dangers in their facilities too.
Evidence rooms or property rooms are used to store seized or stolen property and criminal evidence until the items can be returned to their rightful owners or used in court as matters of proof. Evidence includes items such as weapons, keys, money, personal objects, illicit drugs and biological evidence.
3 main reasons why an Air purifier is needed in the evidence room:
1.Poor ventilation and air quality:
International Association for Property Room and Evidence Room, or the IAPE has issued guidelines which requires the “narcotics storage rooms to be impervious to entry.”
Evidence rooms contain boxes and bags of biological evidence – from illegal substances to prescription narcotics. This can result in poor air quality for evidence room personnel who work nearby, potentially at risk. Without proper airflow and clean air exchanges, evidence room employees are exposed to potential environmental risks such as airborne toxic fumes, mold, particles, dust, strong medicinal odors and other contaminants.
2.Mold Spores-Aspergillus
Decaying plant material (particularly when stored in plastic) provides an ideal environment for unhealthy growth of organisms – like mold. Aspergillus is a mold that can grow on any biological item but is specifically fond of marijuana plants (drug commonly found in evidence and property rooms in law enforcement organizations). The evidence officers handle evidentiary marijuana, which results in them inhaling the mold fumes/spores via their eyes, nose, and throat, often causing headaches, itchy burning eyes, sore throat, sleepiness, and memory problems. Respiratory ailments such as congestion, wheezing and lung damage are also common among these workers. The 15-20 percent moisture left in ‘completely dried’ marijuana in plastic bags is ideal for the replication of the fungus. Asthma patients may develop allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, or ABPA, due to Aspergillus exposure.
3.Maintaining the integrity of the evidence:
Evidence, of course, will be maintained for investigations and legal proceedings until a case is closed. Air Purifiers are a must for evidence rooms to preserve the evidence from decaying rapidly, especially drugs like marijuana and mushrooms, which, tend to mold quickly causing excessive off-gassing and loss of inventory.
Role of Carbon filter in removing odors and VOCs.
Activated carbon comes in granular or palletised form and consists of millions of tiny adsorbent pores. This air filter has been treated to be extremely porous, and this is a popular filtration method against odors, gases, chemicals and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). However, the Activated Carbon filter cannot remove fine particles like dust, dust mites, pet dander or pollen from the air.
In air purifiers, the Activated Carbon filter is mostly used in conjunction with the HEPA filter to capture the other tiny particles as well, like dust, lint, mold spores, pet dander and pollen. Tests have proved, the higher the carbon content, the better the air filtration. Airpura uses 18 - 26 lbs Carbon, regular or special blend.
Best Air purifier to remove odors/VOCs:
The No 1 Recommended air purifier for Evidence Rooms & Marijuana odors. Air purifiers designed to remove thousands of harmful chemicals and VOCs from your air with this custom blended 26 lbs of activated carbon (the most amount in one purifier on the market!), and a HEPA-barrier particle filter helps in maximum abatement of chemicals and VOCs.
Best Air purifier for removal of mold/viruses/Aspergillus:
The UV filtration system of these units (non ozone emitting) will not just trap mold but destroy the DNA of the mold spores. An independent study* was conducted using the Airpura P600 and theAirpura UV600 to measure the removal rates of mold spores. At the lowest speed of 50 CFM, (lowest speed recommended allowing maximum dwell time over the filters and the UV lamp), the removal rate of airborne mold spores (including the dangerous black mold) was 99.99%! The units also have 18 lbs of carbon for odors and gases abatement and a medical grade HEPA filter for fine particulate matter.
*Read studies here: https://www.airpura.com/pages/research-and-studies