Trial at the University of Oregon
University Of Oregon – Enviro-Biotics® Trial
betterair had chosen the BioBE (Biology and Built Environment) research center at the University of Oregon, led by Dr. Jessica Green, a world renowned pioneer of building microbiome studies.
BioBe and betterair initiated collaborative research on the impact of betterair Enviro-Biotics® technology on an indoor microbiome. The University of Oregon’s unique climate control simulation chamber was specifically equipped, offering a controlled introduction of pathogens that were measured catalogued and quantified. Into that setup, the microbial viability of Enviro-Biotics® treatment on surfaces and the antagonistic effect against indoor pathogenic microbes had been measured.
Plates were preloaded with either live or sterilized human-associated microbial communities (HAMC), which were obtained from homogenized and filtered vacuum cleaner dust sourced from three distinct occupied Buildings. The course of treatment was two weeks using betterair’s Biotica 800 device with standard settings in the Climate Chamber (25.75 m3) with humidity, air temperature, and air exchange rates held constant throughout the duration of the experiment and within the range typical of residential/commercial buildings. Air exchange was held at the minimum acceptable via ASHRAE standards for occupied office buildings. All incoming air was filtered to MERV 15.
Proven efficacy against pathogens
The probiotic treatment exhibited a clear antagonistic effect against three typical indoor microbial pathogens:
Escherichia coli – a pathogenic bacteria causing a wide range of human related infections.
Staphylococcus epidermidis – a Gram-positive bacterium that infects patients with compromised immune systems, people with catheters and is a frequent contaminant of specimens sent to the diagnostic laboratory.
Cladosporium sp. – an indoor pathogenic mold. Its airborne spores are significant allergens that severely affect asthmatics.
The inhibition effect over E. Coli and S. epidermidis is depicted in Fig. 1. Continuous application for 14 days suppressed the pathogenic bacteria counts in comparison to the control.
Following the 14 days treatment regime, the E. coli and S. epidermidis counts in the un-treated-control increased dramatically, while their counts in the treated samples were kept low due to the probiotic inhibition effect.
The antagonistic effect against Cladosporium sp. was even more impressive as can be seen in Fig. 2: Cladosporium sp. counts increased significantly more over time in control versus treated samples (Fig. 2; χ2 = 12.3, P < 0.001).
Therefore, it can be concluded that from the 8th day onwards, a significant antagonistic effect was demonstrated over the Cladosporium sp. pathogenic fungi. The antagonistic effect against Cladosporium sp. was even more impressive as can be seen in Fig. 2: Cladosporium sp. counts increased significantly more over time in control versus treated samples (Fig. 2; χ2 = 12.3, P < 0.001).
Conclusion
The Enviro-Biotics® treatment exhibited a clear antagonistic effect against the pathogens introduced into the climate controlled chamber – Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Cladosporium sp. Their existence is not incidental as these species are highly popular among typical indoor microbial pathogens. These are known to be harmful to people, able to cause a wide range of human acquired illnesses
Dr. Jessica Green from BIOBE: Are we filtering the worng microbes?