Detecting fleeting organic compounds

camfil_camcarb_green_1

Camfil City-Flo

camfil_image_medicine_2

camfil_image_medicine_5

Volatile organic compounds can significantly affect the results in medical laboratories. Especially in in-vitro fertilization, that is artificial fertilization, negative influences of these VOCs have been demonstrated. Molecular filters from Camfil ensure the removal of most chemicals present in the respective indoor air with high-quality activated carbon media.

While the average consumer only notices their smell when emanating from plastics, adhesives, paints, and wall colors, medical professionals, chemists, and laboratory technicians often face a more serious problem: the talk is of volatile organic compounds (VOC) – carbon-containing substances that evaporate easily and have been proven to have harmful effects on humans and the environment. In all laboratory processes where human, animal, or plant cells are examined or treated in any form, the presence of VOCs can critically impair the results.

When physiologist Robert Edwards first succeeded in fertilizing a human egg in the lab in 1969, he could not fully anticipate the groundbreaking consequences of this in-vitro fertilization. Not even the awarding of a Nobel Prize in Medicine – which happened in 2010. Today, his method has helped around four million couples have a child who could not have become pregnant naturally. Instead of the long-standing need for numerous sperm per fertilization, now a single sperm can be targeted and combined with an egg.

This progress is also made possible by improved culture conditions in laboratories. Because a prerequisite for successful intervention is good indoor air quality. "Numerous studies have shown that volatile organic compounds are harmful to embryo development and implantation," says Dr. Oscar Perez, Scientific Director Dallas IVF. To prevent an accumulation of VOCs in embryology labs and IVF areas, the leading US center for in-vitro fertilization used molecular filters in addition to HEPA filters – both from the manufacturer Camfil Farr.

The world market leader in air filtration technology also offers various products in the German market as an addition to HEPA filters (for example, Closepleat or Mega-Flo). These are capable of filtering benzene, styrene, and formaldehyde from the indoor air, among other things:

CamCarb Green:
Used for outdoor air supply and recirculation, low pressure difference, complete corrosion resistance, fully incinerable, very high separation performance
CityCarb:
Used for recirculation, filter class F7, particle filtration, and simultaneous odor adsorption, quick installation, fully incinerable, low pressure difference
City-Flo:
Used for recirculation, filter class F7, F9, high dust storage capacity, particle filtration, and simultaneous odor adsorption