Air safety to combat global catastrophic biorisks

Abstract

Last updated on January 5, 2023. This report is a collaboration between researchers from 1Day Sooner and Rethink Priorities. We are planning to update this report according to feedback; suggestions are welcome! Current standards around indoor air quality (IAQ) do not include airborne pathogen levels, and extending indoor air quality standards to include airborne pathogen levels could meaningfully reduce global catastrophic biorisk from pandemics.We estimate that the mass deployment of indoor air quality interventions, like ventilation, filtration, and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), would reduce transmission of a measles-like pathogen by 68%[1]. This amounts to \textasciitilde1/3rd of the total effort needed to reduce pathogen transmission by 98% and would serve as an important layer of biodefense.Bottlenecks inhibiting the mass deployment of these technologies include a lack of clear standards, cost of implementation, and difficulty changing regulation/public attitudes.Various actors can accelerate deployment and improve IAQ to reduce biorisk:Funders can support various advocacy efforts, initiatives to reduce cost and manufacturing issues, and research with contributions ranging from $25,000-200MBusinesses and non-profits can become early adopters of UVGI technology by installing it in their offices and allowing efficacy data to be collected.Researchers can develop better efficacy models, conduct further safety testing, and do fundamental materials and manufacturing research for UVGI interventions.