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GPS Air, formerly Global Plasma Solutions,[1] is an indoor air quality company based in the United States that provides air conditioning and other air quality technologies for commercial and industrial buildings with a focus on using "needlepoint bi-polar cold plasma". The company produced room air quality products designed for schools, among other indoor locations, and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic thousands of schools purchased their products for preventing viral outbreaks.

Investigations by Boeing, air quality organizations such as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and various academic researchers into the efficacy of the air purifiers GPS Air sold raised concerns about both their effectiveness and the potential negative health effects that could occur from the high levels of negative ions produced by the devices. In response, the company filed lawsuits against a member of ASHRAE and the academic publisher Elsevier.

History

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Founded in 2008 in Savannah, Georgia, GPS Air was created as an air purification sales company focused on "needlepoint bi-polar cold plasma" as the primary function of its products. In October 2018, the company was purchased by the investment firm Falfurrias Capital Partners and had its headquarters moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.[2]

Lawsuits

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A class action lawsuit was filed in Maryland in May 2021 against GPS Air regarding their products using "needlepoint bipolar ionization" to inactivate microorganisms in the air. The suit claimed that the technology used by the devices was false advertising and did not function as stated, citing an investigation done by Kaiser Health News on the same devices that were sold to over 2,000 schools in the United States.[3] Some counties, such as Shelby County, Tennessee, and cities, such as Charlotte, North Carolina, used millions of dollars from covid relief funds to install the devices in schools and other locations.[4][5] The original testing done by GPS Air on the devices was scaled down due to the lack of a lab with the right equipment, resulting in a testing scenario involving an area the "size of a shoebox". This region was "blasted with 27,000 ions per cubic centimeter" and was stated by the company to be successful at reducing 99% of pathogens in the space, though it was later acknowledged by the company founder that the amount of ions the machines are able to routinely put out is 13 times lower when dealing with a normal sized room.[6]

While a study originally conducted by the aerospace corporation Boeing in September 2020 on the devices did indicate its effectiveness, a subsequent study done by Boeing for a longer period of time found the devices to have "no observable reduction in viability" of E. coli in the testing area. GPS Air responded by stating that the study had been conducted on pathogens on surfaces and not in the air, with the latter being what the ionization devices were made to counteract. An additional study done at the University of Arizona found that the devices did indeed kill microorganisms when they were producing ions at "62,000 negative ions per cubic centimeter", but that this was an order of magnitude higher than the ion production rates of the devices under normal usage. Furthermore, other studies have found that ionization levels over 60,000 produced negative health impacts on humans.[7]

After information about the lawsuit became public, the Newark, California, school district began removing the devices from area schools alongside concerns about the air quality being made worse by the technology.[8][9]

Response to scientific criticism

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An open letter was filed by a dozen scientists and engineers against the ionization technology and warning schools against installing such devices. This warning was amplified by the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America and the Environmental Protection Agency due to the potential negative health impacts. The Centers for Disease Control were also prompted to advise the United States Department of Education to send out notices advising schools to require higher levels of scientific evidence of efficacy of such devices before purchasing them, with the Department of Education updating regulations and guidelines in June 2021.[10]

One of the signatories of the open letter was Marwa Zaatari, a member of ASHRAE, who compiled a list of public information on school district spending in relation to the ionization products.[11] In response to this and her statements in the media that independent research hasn't corroborated the claims of GPS Air, the company filed a lawsuit against Zaatari in April 2021 for $180 million.[12] Additionally, GPS Air filed a lawsuit earlier in March 2021 against Francis J. Offermann, President of the consulting firm Indoor Environmental Engineering, for the publication of an article[13] in the firm's newsletter critical of the company.[14] A third lawsuit was filed against the academic publishing organization Elsevier for their publication of studies,[15][16] including one by Colorado State University professor Delphine Farmer,[17] on GPS Air's devices showing their lack of efficacy.[12]

Products

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Among others, one of the room mounted air purifiers made by GPS Air includes the GPS-FC24-AC that can be wall mounted in multiple small cassettes or to existing HVAC equipment.[18] An additional device sold by the company is a "plasma generator" aimed at reducing the amount of microorganisms, including mold and allergens, in the air to prevent pets from becoming sick.[19]

Awards

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The Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Gold award was given by The ACHR News magazine in their 2016 Dealer Design Awards to the company's GPS-iClean device for room air purification.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "Global Plasma Solutions Rebrands as GPS Air". ACHR News. July 20, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
  2. ^ Quiroz-Gutierrez, Marco (October 5, 2018). "Charlotte investment firm buys air purification tech company". WRAL-TV. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  3. ^ Steinberg, Julie (March 11, 2022). "Global Plasma Solutions Faces Covid Air Cleaner Claim". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  4. ^ Diprizio, Jeni (July 14, 2021). "$25 million spent on air purifying systems at Shelby County jail & schools". WATN-TV. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  5. ^ Morabito, Nate (October 15, 2021). "School districts, City of Charlotte spent millions on air purification technology some experts say need more study". WCNC-TV. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  6. ^ Jewett, Christina; Weber, Lauren (May 11, 2021). "Schools spending millions on air purifiers often sold using overblown claims". CNN. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  7. ^ Jewett, Christina; Weber, Lauren (June 7, 2021). "Do air purifiers protect against Covid? Lawsuit says company makes 'false' claims". NBC News. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Geha, Joseph (May 20, 2021). "Newark school district to 'disconnect' $360,000 air cleaning devices following lawsuit". Mercury News. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  9. ^ Shaban, Bigad; Campos, Robert; Carroll, Jeremy; Horn, Michael; Villarreal, Mark (August 4, 2021). "Schools Spent Millions to Clean Indoor Air, Now Some Fear Technology Could Be Dangerous". NBC Bay Area. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  10. ^ Przybyla, Heidi (May 14, 2021). "Federal officials seek better rules about schools' indoor air quality". NBC News. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  11. ^ Pauly, Madison (May 27, 2021). "Caution to the Wind". Mother Jones. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Bailes III, Allison A. (October 13, 2022). "Ionizer Company Sues Indoor Air Quality Expert". Green Building Advisor. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  13. ^ Offermann, Francis J. (November 5, 2020). "Beware: The COVID-19 Snake Oil Salesmen Are Here" (PDF). iee-sf.com. Indoor Environmental Engineering. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  14. ^ Chapman, Peter (September 28, 2021). "Everybody Wants the Last Word About Whether Global Plasma's Lawsuit Against IEE Indoor Will Live or Die" (PDF). UV Reporter. CMPR Law. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  15. ^ Kanesaka, I.; Katsuse, A. K.; Takahashi, H.; Kobayashi, I. (August 2022). "Evaluation of a bipolar ionization device in inactivation of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, yeast, Aspergillus spp. and human coronavirus". Journal of Hospital Infection. 126: 16–20. doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2022.04.004. PMC 9017056. PMID 35452719.
  16. ^ Zeng, Yicheng; Manwatkar, Prashik; Laguerre, Aurelie; Beke, Marina; Kang, Insung; Ali, Akram S.; Farmer, Delphine K.; Gall, Elliot T.; Heidarinejad, Mohammad; Stephens, Brent (May 15, 2021). "Evaluating a commercially available in-duct bipolar ionization device for pollutant removal and potential byproduct formation". Building and Environment. 195: 108910. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107750. S2CID 233555396.
  17. ^ Barber, Gregory (March 26, 2021). "The Ionizer in Your School May Not Do Much to Fight Covid". Wired. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  18. ^ Ross, Kelly Jo (July 16, 2020). "Central approves air purifier to reduce spread of viruses". The Breese Journal. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  19. ^ Hoffmann, Rebekah (September 24, 2015). "Double J Doggie Play N Stay provides wide range of services for man's best friend". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  20. ^ Anesi, Jen (July 18, 2016). "Global Plasma Solutions' Self-cleaning Apparatus Wins IAQ Gold". The ACHR News. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
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