News 2021

NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD. (President and COO: Takashi Kawai, Headquarters: Nagoya, hereinafter referred to as NGK SPARK PLUG) verified that 99.9% of airborne human coronavirus 229E^*1 was inactivated in a joint experiment conducted in a 25m³ air chamber using the ozone gas generator under development. It is the first time that NGK SPARK PLUG has demonstrated this inactivation of the human coronavirus 229E in a space equivalent to a living space^*2. Based on this result, NGK SPARK PLUG will further promote the development of products directly related to the countermeasures against infectious diseases in real life.

*1　It is one of the common coronaviruses that infect humans and is different from SARS-COV-2.

*2　NGK SPARK PLUG announced the inactivation effect on influenza virus in 1.2 m³ air chamber in December 2020.

◆Test Outline
The inactivation effect of the ozone, generated by the ozone gas generator under development by NGK SPARK PLUG, on airborne human coronavirus 229E was verified by NGK SPARK PLUG jointly with the Virus Research Center, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization (Director: Dr. Hidekazu Nishimura), Mediair Japan Inc. (President: Soichiro Sakata), and Masuda Research Inc. (CEO: Shunsuke Hosokawa).

◆Testing Conditions
Corona 229E virus solution was sprayed in a 25m³ test chamber maintained at a temperature of 20℃ and humidity of 50%RH. After spraying, the aerosolized floating virus was collected using a gelatin membrane filter, and the virus infectivity in the solution was measured by the TCID50 method.

◆Test Result
In the environment with approximately 30 to 90 ppb of ozone gas, 99.7% of the virus was inactivated after 30 minutes, compared to the virus count at the beginning of the test. In comparison with the environment without ozone gas, 96.8% of the virus was inactivated. Furthermore, after 60 minutes, 99.9% of the virus was inactivated compared to the virus count at the beginning of the test. In comparison with the environment without ozone gas, 93.2% of the virus was inactivated.

*This test is to investigate the virus inactivation effect under fundamental conditions and does not guarantee performance in actual use environments.