Air Treatment

Testing for Other Air Treatment Technologies

Independent aerosol, bioaerosol, CADR, VOC, ozone, and by-product testing for emerging air treatment technologies.

ARE Labs evaluates nontraditional air treatment devices for removal performance, microbial reduction, and unintended emissions. The resulting data may support defined claims under the test conditions.

ISO 17025ANSI/AHAM AC-1ASHRAE 241ISO 16000Reviewed 2026-05-17
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Testing emerging air treatment technologies

Emerging air treatment technologies include ionization, plasma, photocatalytic oxidation, catalytic media, sorbents, UV-assisted systems, and hybrid devices that fall outside a single purifier or duct category. Depending on the mechanism and intended claim, records maintained under the ISO 17025 quality system provide the laboratory quality foundation. ANSI/AHAM AC-1, ASHRAE 241, ISO 16000, CARB Method 310, and UL 867 can then help structure performance and emissions studies when:

  1. Ionization, plasma, PCO, or hybrid devices need ISO 16000 aligned ozone, VOC, aldehyde, and by-product data across operating modes.
  2. Prototype air cleaners require ISO 17025 records and ANSI/AHAM AC-1 framed CADR-style particle decay before claim language or design comparisons are finalized.
  3. Room microbial reduction claims need ASHRAE 241 aligned bioaerosol chamber data with device-off decay, recovery checks, and organism-specific endpoints.
  4. Duct, recirculating, or through-flow concepts need ASHRAE 241 or ISO 16000-36 aligned inline reduction with upstream/downstream sampling.
  5. Particle-generating components need ISO 17025 records for background-corrected emissions, startup peaks, shutdown behavior, and mitigation verification.

Use this testing when a nonstandard mechanism, operating mode, or claim leaves questions about removal performance, microbial reduction, or emissions risk. Before the device arrives, the protocol defines the chamber or duct geometry, challenge type, controls, acceptance logic, and study boundaries.

Testing menu for emerging air treatment devices

Nontraditional air treatment programs often combine particle removal, microbial reduction, emissions measurement, and safety screening. The test set should follow the device mechanism, claim language, operating mode, and target market.

Test method options

MethodStrengthsTradeoffAligned with
Particle emissions and CADR-style chamber program
  • Background-corrected time series separate device-generated particles from room decay under ISO 17025 and ANSI/AHAM AC-1 frames.
  • CADR-style decay compares removal performance across operating modes, prototypes, or design revisions.
Results depend on chamber volume, mixing, surrogate choice, and mode timing; those limits must be stated.
ANSI/AHAM AC-1ISO 17025
Room or inline bioaerosol reduction study
  • ASHRAE 241 aligned chamber or duct studies quantify organism or surrogate reduction beyond natural decay.
  • Culture, qPCR, or ddPCR endpoints connect reduction claims to recovery controls and replicate statistics.
Organism, endpoint, airflow, RH, and biosafety choices drive scope and limit claim transferability.
ASHRAE 241ISO 17025
VOC, ozone, and reaction by-product panel
  • ISO 16000 aligned FTIR, TD-GC/MS, DNPH/HPLC, and ozone monitoring document reactive by-products across device modes.
  • Mode mapping identifies worst-case settings for ionization, plasma, PCO, UV-assisted, catalytic, or sorbent systems.
Supports emissions documentation but does not provide UL, CARB, AHAM, or whole-product certification.
ISO 16000UL 867CARB Method 310
Fit-for-purpose protocol for nonstandard mechanisms
  • Custom chamber, duct, or fixture design lets unusual form factors be tested against defined engineering controls.
  • Protocol planning links each claim to challenge type, controls, endpoint, and reporting boundary before testing.
Fit-for-purpose studies may not be directly comparable to fixed certification methods or retail rating programs.
ISO 17025ASHRAE 241

Setup configurations

Every emerging air treatment study begins with the device mechanism, configuration, target claim, and exposure route. A single product may require chamber decay, inline reduction, particle emissions, and gas/VOC panels. Before testing begins, the study plan defines operating modes, warmup, flow, chamber or duct geometry, challenge materials, environmental conditions, controls, and replicate structure.

Device interfaces

Chamber placement, duct adapters, sampling ports, intake/exhaust orientation, catalyst or media state, UV or plasma settings, and bypass checks documented per condition.

Flow & actuation profiles

Fan speed, duty cycle, voltage or power setting, warmup, automatic modes, mode sequence, flow rate, and run duration fixed by protocol.

Environmental controls

Temperature, RH, chamber volume, duct geometry, mixing, air exchange, background decay, and sampling locations controlled where they affect removal or emissions.

Media & handling

Particle challenge, VOC or gas challenge, organism or surrogate, filter age, sorbent condition, catalyst state, maintenance state, and conditioning history recorded.

Sample numbers

Device count, replicate runs, operating modes, controls, and conditioning blocks are sized to the claim, expected variability, and decision threshold.

Quality frame for emerging air treatment testing

Emerging air treatment studies distinguish the accredited laboratory quality system from the performance, bioaerosol, and emissions frameworks used to design the work. Together, they define the controls, calibration records, and reporting language required for the study.

  • ISO 17025AccreditedTesting-laboratory competence, calibration traceability, method records, and data review.
  • ANSI/AHAM AC-1AlignedPortable air cleaner chamber decay context for CADR-style particle studies.
  • ASHRAE 241AlignedInfectious aerosol control and equivalent clean airflow context for air-treatment studies.
  • ISO 16000AlignedIndoor air VOC, aldehyde, ozone, and chamber sampling context.

Key data outputs & reporting

Reports for emerging air treatment technologies connect the device mechanism, setup, and operating mode to the measured performance and emissions. Depending on study scope, outputs may include particle concentration, CADR-style decay, log reduction, single-pass reduction, viable recovery, genome copies, ozone, VOCs, aldehydes, by-product trends, emission factors, airflow observations, QA/QC controls, and reporting limits. Extended programs comparing modes, prototypes, conditioning states, or claim scenarios receive comparison appendices.

Primary outputs

  • Particle concentration, size distribution, emission peaks, startup or shutdown profiles, and background-corrected decay constants by operating mode.
  • CADR-style removal values, natural decay correction, room bioaerosol log reduction, or inline single-pass reduction where scoped.
  • VOC, aldehyde, ozone, TVOC, and selected by-product time series with background, blank, and replicate context.
  • Chamber, duct, flow, RH, temperature, device setting, and sampling-location records tied to each run.

Deliverables

#FormatContents
01PDF reportMethods, setup, controls, results, deviations, and interpretation limits.
02CSV / XLSX datasetsTime series, concentration, decay, reduction, emissions, and replicate tables.
03FiguresDecay curves, emission trends, log-reduction plots, and mode comparisons.
Extended deliverables · multi-arm comparability · stability · predicate studies
  • Mode comparison pack — Side-by-side results across fan speeds, ionizer states, UV settings, duty cycles, or active-treatment modes.
  • Prototype comparison appendix — Performance, emissions, and reduction summaries for design revisions, media changes, or conditioned devices.
  • Claim-support table — Endpoint-by-endpoint mapping of tested claims to method, control, result, and reporting boundary.

QA / QC & data integrity

Emerging air treatment studies use controls to separate the device effect from background decay, chamber loss, sampler recovery, analytical drift, and environmental variation. From sample receipt through final review, ARE Labs maintains study records under its ISO 17025 quality system. The final report documents calibration traceability and any method deviations.

Device-off decay, chamber blanks, media blanks, gas backgrounds, and negative controls establish baseline loss and contamination.

Particle counters, flow meters, gas analyzers, samplers, balances, environmental probes, and analytical systems are checked or calibrated before use.

Challenge generation, organism release, VOC dosing, fan speed, device mode, sampling times, and environmental conditions are documented per run.

Replicate runs, positive controls, recovery checks, and acceptance criteria are selected to match the claim and endpoint.

Chain of custody tracks devices, filters, organisms, sampling media, extracts, raw files, calculations, and deviations.

RESEARCH / THIS WORK IN PRACTICE

Real studies. Measured evidence.

Explore published studies connected to other air treatment. Each explains the study question, approach and findings.

View related studies (2)
Air-Cleaner Performance

Glow Guardian Air-Purifying Candle: Concept to Market

The work helped Glow Guardian move from an early concept to a public-facing product story supported by controlled bioaerosol data and a granted patent.

Selected finding
The final broad-range study showed measurable reductions across virus surrogates, bacteria, mold spores, and bacterial endospores.
Related context

The published program concerns a nontraditional active-in-air candle product.

BioaerosolAir cleanerFormulation development
Air-Cleaner Performance

First-Minute Bioaerosol Testing for Active-in-Air Devices

The method addressed a product-mechanism question that standard chamber decay testing does not isolate: what viable bioaerosol concentration remains one minute after a new challenge enters room air that has already been treated?

Selected finding
The method compared viable bioaerosol concentration after a one-minute post-aerosolization mixing period in matched control and pretreated-room conditions.
Related context

The published article concerns a nontraditional active-in-air treatment technology.

BioaerosolAir cleanerDevice evaluation

Study-specific findings do not guarantee performance for another product.

Why ARE Labs

ARE Labs connects technical topics to practical study design, method selection, controlled aerosol work, and reportable evidence without turning technical pages into sales pages.

Reviewed byJamie Balarashti (25 yrs - cascade & inhalation methods) - Weston Schaper (7 yrs - real-time sizing & nanoparticle work)
QualityDocumented study records
900+Studies Performed
17+Years in operation
300+Clients supported

Common questions

Air treatment developers and product teams often ask the same questions when scoping a nonstandard device study: which endpoint should come first, when an emissions panel is needed, how room and inline methods differ, what determines sample count, and whether the testing certifies the product. Most emerging technology programs also require at least one custom setup decision during planning.

Q.How do we choose the right method?
A.Start with the claim and device mechanism. Particle removal claims point to CADR-style decay, while microbial claims call for room or inline bioaerosol studies. Reactive mechanisms usually also require ozone, VOC, aldehyde, and by-product panels.
Q.Can one study cover performance and emissions?
A.Often, yes. We can coordinate particle decay, microbial reduction, and emissions panels when the chamber or duct setup, operating modes, and sample timing can be aligned in one protocol.
Q.How is room testing different from inline testing?
A.Room testing tracks concentration decay in a mixed chamber. Inline testing measures upstream/downstream reduction through a defined flow path. We select the setup based on how the device will be installed and the claim being evaluated.
Q.How many devices or runs are needed?
A.Device and replicate counts depend on the operating modes, expected variability, conditioning, challenge type, and whether the study is intended for screening or claim support. We define those counts during protocol development.
Q.Does this testing certify the product?
A.No. ARE Labs provides defined aerosol, bioaerosol, emissions, and documentation evidence. AHAM certification, CARB certification, UL certification, electrical safety approval, and full regulatory submissions require separate programs.

Standards & guidance

Emerging air treatment studies are scoped around the standard or guidance framework that best matches the device mechanism, chamber or duct setup, target claim, and market question. ISO 17025 provides the accredited laboratory quality framework. ANSI/AHAM AC-1, ASHRAE 241, ISO 16000, UL 867, and CARB Method 310 are used as aligned frameworks when they fit the study design.

QA & Regulatory - Accredited

ISO 17025

Testing-laboratory competence, documented methods, calibration traceability, uncertainty, and data reviewView standard ->Air Treatment - Aligned

ANSI/AHAM AC-1

Portable room air cleaner chamber decay context for CADR-style particle removal studiesView standard ->Bioaerosol & Indoor Air - Aligned

ASHRAE 241

Infectious aerosol control and equivalent clean airflow context for room and inline studiesView standard ->Gas & VOC Analysis - Aligned

ISO 16000

Indoor air chamber sampling for VOC, aldehyde, ozone, and by-product evaluationsView standard ->Safety & Emissions - Aligned

UL 867

Ozone and safety-related emissions context for electrostatic and active air-cleaning devicesView standard ->Safety & Emissions - Aligned

CARB Method 310

Ozone emissions measurement context for air-cleaning devices sold into California marketsView standard ->

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