Clean Business

Mobile hospitals, air flows protecting employees in supermarkets and automated pass through airlocks at the chemists. The cleanroom technology industry provides sophisticated technical solutions that could also be largely helpful in the current corona crisis.

"Those working at tills or stocking shelves in supermarkets these days are doing one of the most difficult jobs there are at present. Thank you for being there for your fellow citizens and literally keeping shop", Chancellor Angela Merkel told viewers on television on 18th March 2020. Social isolation, contact bans and curfews can slow down the spread of the coronavirus, but cannot protect those working in supermarkets, hospitals or on the beat. Technical solutions are needed for that. German cleanroom institute Deutsche Reinrauminstitut e.V. (DRRI), whose members include Messe Frankfurt, at the end of March published a blog article about tested cleanroom technologies, which could give a significant head start in the corona crisis.

Employees in supermarkets are now sitting behind hastily put up Perspex screens or cling foil barriers. Cleanroom specialists believe these to have only a symbolic meaning. The experts recommend the use of displacement flows or so-called laminar flows. They keep germs, which are carried in the air, away from employees at all times. For chemists, which are considered to be at especially high risk, DRRI suggests automated pass through airlocks to hand out medicines. Being contactless and ventilated they are an effective measure in the current crisis. The cleanroom industry can also provide new concepts for acute patient care. According to DRRI, Cleanzone exhibitors Dittel Engineering and Vissmann Technologies for instance have launched mobile intensive care units.

How can cleanroom and laboratory specialists help with solutions, which increase the level of hygiene in the economy and society? Research on new ideas is ongoing. Ideas, which can protect employees and the public not only now, but also in the future. At international trade show Cleanzone in Frankfurt, exhibitors will present exciting contamination control and cleanroom innovations from 18th to 19th November 2020.