A cool way to eliminate SARS and H1N1

MANILA, Philippines - Who would have thought that after years of keeping our indoors cool, the air-conditioner would actually be credited for keeping our indoors healthy, too?

MPI or Micro Plasma Ions, a ground-breaking innovation by global electronics company Samsung, enables A/Cs to inactivate the likes of dust mites, molds, fungi, and allergens, and such fast-spreading, life-threatening airborne infections as the H1N1 virus and SARS. Developed in 2003, the MPI technology (which its makers refer to as the virus doctor) has been incorporated in a number of Samsung’s premium air-conditioning units, which the company launched at the third Indoor Environment & Health (IEH) 2010 seminar hosted by the Asian Center for Indoor & Environment (ACIEH) in Singapore. The units will also be unveiled in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries this month.

MPI works by releasing billions of ions in the air. The ions collide with the airborne viruses in the room, and this collision eliminates three hydrogen from the virus. Without the three hydrogen, the virus is rendered inactivated as it turns into harmless water molecules.

While this collision is something we cannot see, tests conducted in Korea and Japan confirm that the technology is truly at work. Dr. Sang Heui Seo, director of the Institute of Influenza Virus, saw the efficacy of the MPI technology for himself in tests conducted from July to September 2009. Using a small chamber fitted with the MPI device, he sprayed the chamber with the H1N1 virus and was floored to discover that the MPI device inactivated the virus by over 99 percent a mere 20 minutes later. Additional tests in Japan and Korea also showed that the MPI device was effective in eliminating the SARS virus, fungi, bacteria, dust mites, dog and cat allergens, and other indoor pollution by close to 100 percent.

“Our air-conditioner division has been making great efforts to provide total air solutions,” says Youn Baek, Samsung VP for research & development for the Digital Air Solutions Business. “Good air quality and environmental health are two of our main concerns. We will continue to develop beneficial products such as MPI and provide comfortable and safe air.”