The sports and fitness industry, which has been accustomed to growth for many years, has been particularly hard hit by the Corona pandemic, and the period after the officially ordered closure does not look particularly rosy either. High demands on hygiene regulations pose great challenges for the entire industry. Fear is spreading among customers and operators.
Fear of becoming infected with the dangerous virus while at the gym means that many members will avoid fitness centres in the future altogether.
The fact that this fear is also shared by gym operators themselves and indeed that the danger of infection cannot be entirely excluded is directly supported by the results of several recent research projects.
Recent studies prove: The once underestimated risk of infection is currently floating quite literally in the air and it is spread by freely floating aerosols, especially in gyms
Recommended measures usually include
- Rules for social distancing (1.5 meter distance between individuals and equipment), physical barriers (plexiglass panes),
- restrictions on access
- more frequent disinfection intervals for surface disinfection (every 30 minutes).
What this does not prepare for, however, apart from avoiding infection by direct droplets, is the greatest fear itself; that of contracting coronavirus, specifically via the aerosol clouds floating freely in the air!
When we speak, cough or sneeze, we can not only emit large, visible droplets in a kind of “virus spray” (keyword: spraying when speaking), but to a much greater extent we also emit tiny particles, so-called aerosols. These suspended particles are only a thousandth of a millimetre in size, invisible to the naked eye, and when people are sick, bacteria or viruses adhere to these particles. This aerosol emission is much higher during physical exertion with intensified breathing in the gym or during fully-occupied fitness courses.
Scientists are increasingly realising that the corona virus could only spread so quickly because it spreads so effectively through the air – as has already been proven for other pathogens such as influenza, tuberculosis and the SARS-Cov-1 virus. This is what the Robert Koch Institute reports in the “SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Disease Profile-2019” (last accessed 30.04.2020):
“Aerosols (droplet nuclei, smaller than 5 micrometers): In a study with experimentally generated aerosols enriched with SARS-CoV-2 viruses, viruses capable of reproduction were detectable for up to three hours (3).”
A further study confirms this finding! Scientists from Aalto University, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, the VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland and the University of Helsinki have created a 3D model showing the effects of unprotected coughing on the environment in a supermarket.
“Unhindered pathogens that have been coughed up will spread over several meters within a few seconds and remain highly infectious in the air for quite some time.”
The basic conditions and findings of these scientific studies can be transferred almost 1:1 to gyms
The spatial conditions of supermarkets and gyms are often identical: Furnished areas, many people in a small space and an air conditioning system installed. If an infected athlete breathes or even coughs into the room, the risk of infection increases drastically over several hours for everybody else there, as the virus-contaminated aerosols are freely distributed in the room. Even if the infected person has long since left the room, the infectious aerosol clouds still float freely for hours in the room. That others become infected is thus pre-programmed.
Trotec has also simulated the spread and retention time of pathogenic germs in the air
The 3D simulation created by Trotec on the basis of the Finnish studies illustrates the long-lasting infectiousness of just one cough in the gym and explicitly shows that high-frequency air filtering in gyms is both protective and absolutely necessary.
For many people, sport and fitness are part of their everyday life and lifestyle. Sports enthusiasts need no convincing to do sports. Rather, studio operators should implement effective protective measures to reduce the fear of infection from those who are still members and create the safest training environment possible for “new customers”. This is also an effective marketing strategy for every gym.
Trotec supports gyms and supplements existing safety and hygiene concepts with additional protection against virus-contaminated aerosols
The federal and state governments rightly demand that a safety and hygiene concept be adapted to the current situation so that studios and fitness facilities can resume operations. In addition to the measures developed by the DSSV, the TAC V+ high-performance air purifier developed by Trotec especially for use in gyms ensures that the latest scientific findings and thus the risk of infection via airborne aerosols are also taken into account.
Trotec high performance air purifiers with a special H14-HEPA particulate filter reduce the risk of infection in gyms and filter up to 99.995% of the viruses and bacteria that cause illness from the air in the room
The technically correct use of a Trotec TAC V+ air purifier with an H14 HEPA filter significantly reduces the risk of infection by a pathogen such as SARS-CoV-2 via the air in gyms, indoor sports parks and comparable sports and leisure facilities. In particular at typical junctions such as counters in gyms, changing rooms and course rooms, the exposure of the indoor air to infectious aerosol clouds can be significantly minimized. The risk of infection in these zones is considerably reduced and hence even areas such as changing rooms, bistro or recreation areas can then be used.
Our approximately 11 million-strong sports enthusiasts will also appreciate these measures! From the point of view of the members, the coronavirus is an “invisible enemy”, which cannot be avoided and which can close in on you at any time without warning by a cough from within one of the fitness rooms. As such, an investment in effective air purification is also an investment in member loyalty. Customers can train with the confidence that the air in the room is optimally filtered and thus the risk of infection by “spontaneous panting” or “spontaneous coughing” is comparatively low.
Trotec high-performance air cleaners such as the TAC V+ reduce the dwell time and intensity of aerosol and suspended matter clouds in closed rooms and offer customers, guests and employees a workplace with a greatly reduced risk of infection
The zone air purifier TAC V+ is an innovative solution for establishing low-virus and low-pollutant work and recreation areas wherever they are needed: at customer reception, in call centres, co-working spaces or in open-plan offices with many small work areas without partitions as well as in restaurants, canteens, nail and cosmetic studios, hairdressing salons, medical practices, libraries and gyms.
Wherever the TAC V+ mobile air purifier is placed, it creates clean “clean air zones” flushed with virus-filtered clean air. In these zones, the ambient air remains largely free of airborne germs and viruses, because the TAC V+ enables the large-volume intake of contaminated room air with effective H14 HEPA filtration and a flexibly adjustable flushing of the zone with virus-free clean air – free of aerosol particles.
“Plug & Play” installation, “Plug & Play” ease-of-use, “Plug & Play” safety wherever it’s needed. Without installation or complicated connections. Simply plug it in and immediately provide more hygiene as well as more safety for customers, guests and employees.
The high-performance TAC V+ air purifier purifies ambient air continuously and maintenance-free, without disturbing your work flow through complex hygiene measures or installation work.
The HEPA special filter of the TAC V+ has a thermal self-regeneration function for automatic inactivation of the viruses separated in the filter, leaving you and your employees to concentrate on the essentials. The filter decontaminates itself 100% fully automatically overnight or outside working hours, so as to provide reliable protection against pathogenic germs and viruses in the ambient air during the day! Unique worldwide and only available from Trotec!
Thanks to its unique combination of filter and decontamination technology, the TAC V+ safely reduces the airborne risk of infection in all areas with high levels of public traffic.
More cannot, and less should not, be done for protection:
- compliance with hygiene regulations
- partition walls
- masks and
- effective high performance H14 air cleaning
Good to know: Not all air purifiers are the same
The air performance of air purifiers is always advertised as having “free air-flow” or with “maximum air performance”. In practice, however, this often only describes the maximum air output of the fan – without filtering. This is often misleading for the user, who assumes the air performance includes filtering. “Real” air performance with the filter in place, however, is something else altogether. As a rule, an H13 HEPA/ULPA filter will only produce 150 m³/hour from 500 m³/hour maximum air flow rate. With an H14 high-performance virus filter, even less than 120 m³/hour of filtered clean air remains due to the extreme filter performance. As such, this performance is enough for a room of just 4 to 5 square metres!
In open-plan offices, canteens, shops, gyms or comparable “workspaces” where many people work or spend time in a confined space, it is therefore not sufficient to install just any old air purifier with a few hundred cubic meters of clean air capacity fitted with any old filter. In order to provide effective protection against spontaneously occurring, infectious aerosol clouds, high-performance air purifiers are absolutely necessity. These should be equipped with an H14 virus HEPA filter, which being of such a high class, can guarantee a basic air output of at least 1,500 to 3,000 m³/hour.
You should bear this in mind when doing your calculations!
Interesting facts about the H14-HEPA high performance filter with a transmittance of ≤ 0.005 %
With their first-class filter efficiency and innovative performance characteristics, the Heat Resistant H14 Filters that were specially developed by Trotec for the TAC V+ and the TES 200, are really quite impressive. With a transmittance of only 0.005% and a separation efficiency of 99.995%, they offer 10 times the separation efficiency of H13 filters.
Only the Trotec H14 Heat Resistant Filter is suitable for the thermal decontamination of viruses in the filter
Thanks to this first-class property, the H14 high-performance filters are even used in operating theatres for clean air production and in comparably hygiene-sensitive areas. The best criteria for keeping ambient and breathable air free of germs and viruses in the workplace in times of rampant epidemics.
All the H14 high-performance filters offered by Trotec meet the highest quality requirements which are obligatory for filtering bacteria and viruses:
- Each H14 high-performance filter is individually tested and given its own serial number.
- The test report is enclosed with each H14 filter in duplicate as a certificate.
- The original test certificate can be filed away and a copy attached to the air purification device when required.
- H14-HEPA high performance filters are tested according to EN 1822 and EN 60335-2-69.
Trotec has developed special high-performance air purifiers for almost every application in the field of occupational safety
In addition to the high-performance air purifier TAC V+, Trotec also offers other air purifiers such as the TES 200 or the TAC 6500. We can supply you with free-standing air purifying solutions as well as air purifiers that can be integrated into your existing ambient air system!
Our technical consultants will be pleased to discuss with you in a personal meeting which unit is optimal for your application.
Buying a unit: If you have any questions, please contact us per email at online-uk@trotec.com or give us a call on +49 2452 962-400.
Equipment rental: Please contact our TKL Rental Centre directly – by e-mail to online-uk@trotec.com or call us on +49 2452 962-160.
