According to Airocide, the company selling these for the home market for an off the planet price of US$799 plus US$99 for replacement chambers (yearly replacement recommended), the titanium dioxide based purifiers are almost 100 percent effective at neutralizing biological pollutants like mold, fungi, pollen, dust mites, viruses and bacteria, along with volatile organic compounds.
Titanium dioxide is a pretty marvellous material. It is non-toxicity, has high photocatalytic activity and strong self-cleaning ability - hence its selection for use in this air cleaner. It is widely used in paints, sunscreens and anti-reflective optical coatings, so we have considerable experience with it. Investigation of its antimicrobial properties shows promise as reported here:
This wont work because isolating ourselves in a bubble of 'clean' air will mean we cant go out and will have an ill prepared immune system to deal with what's on the outside. Children who are brought up in too clean an atmosphere go on to develop asthma and eczema.
I agree with you where young children are concerned. There's definitely a great deal of evidence that children that have their immune systems challenged by exposure to other children plus wide environmental exposure (e.g. playing in the dirt and with animals) have a more robust immune system and are less susceptible to problems caused by less well tuned immune systems.
However, when it comes to those that already have compromised immune systems, then I figure reducing the risk of infection may be the best option. As CLL progresses, we become poorer at generating antibodies/immunoglobulins as these are mainly produced by plasma cells, which is what mature B-lymphocytes become if they aren't cancerous. Given recovering from infections can take far longer for us than for healthy people, some of us may find that the relatively high cost of one of these units may pay for itself in a better quality of life and reduced medical expenses.
I went through a purchasing situation similar to this when my children were young and asthma was a major problem for a few family members. We invested in measures to reduce dust mite exposure by enclosing mattresses and pillows and by investing in a very expensive but also very effective vacuum cleaner. (In today's money, it was probably at least ten times more expensive than this household air cleaner and it was a huge hit on our budget at the time.) Thankfully I was able to do a side by side comparison of a couple of vacuum cleaners that claimed to be effective in removing dust mites and proved conclusively that the vacuum cleaner we ended up buying was indeed significantly better. It was worth the expense to reduce the risk of loved ones being admitted to hospital in a very distressed state from an asthma attack. Asthma attacks can be fatal as can complications from common infections - even if you don't have a weakened immune system from having CLL.
Of course, you'd want independent verification that the claims are true for this air cleaner as well as evidence that the unit provided significantly better performance than competing solutions. Probably more to the point is that it would be very easy to invest in an air cleaning unit and totally negate its effectiveness by exposing yourself to infection by some other vector.
Unfortunately some of us (myself included) can't take the risk of going out into crowds even without having air cleaners at home. I've had to avoid situations where I'm in enclosed spaces for the last four years - my only exceptions being attending Leukaemia Foundation workshops. I'm even hesitant to attend those now as I've caught respiratory infections from attending recent ones as my immunoglobulin levels continue to drop, with the last infection taking two months to get over due to several secondary infections.
Perhaps when a portable unit becomes available (without a space suit!), I'll be able to enjoy large group social activities again.
And now a a team of scientists at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University are developing a material known as Multi-use Titanium Dioxide. Their research indicates that it can be used to produce hydrogen and clean water from wastewater, double the lifespan of batteries, create antibacterial wound dressings ... and more.
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