Amplified interest in maintaining clean indoor air associated with the airborne transmission risks of SARS-CoV-2 have led to an expansion in the market for commercially available air cleaning systems. While the optimal way to mitigate indoor air pollutants or contaminants is to control (remove) the source, air cleaners are a tool for use when absolute source control is not possible. Interventions for indoor air quality management include physical removal of pollutants through ventilation or collection on filters and sorbent materials, along with chemically reactive processes that transform pollutants or seek to deactivate biological entities. This perspective intends to highlight the perhaps unintended consequences of various air cleaning approaches via indoor air chemistry. Introduction of new chemical agents or reactive processes can initiate complex chemistry that results in the release of reactive intermediates and/or byproducts into the indoor environment. Since air cleaning systems are often continuously running to maximize their effectiveness and most people spend a vast majority of their time indoors, human exposure to both primary and secondary products from air cleaners may represent significant exposure risk. This Perspective highlights the need for further study of chemically reactive air cleaning and disinfection methods before broader adoption.

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空气净化化学的意外后果

对保持与 SARS-CoV-2 空气传播风险相关的清洁室内空气的兴趣增强，导致市售空气净化系统市场扩大。虽然减轻室内空气污染物或污染物的最佳方法是控制（去除）源头，但空气净化器是在不可能进行绝对源头控制时使用的工具。室内空气质量管理干预措施包括通过通风或收集过滤器和吸附材料来物理去除污染物，以及转化污染物或试图使生物实体失活的化学反应过程。这个观点旨在强调通过室内空气化学进行的各种空气净化方法可能会产生意想不到的后果。引入新的化学试剂或反应过程会引发复杂的化学反应，导致反应中间体和/或副产品释放到室内环境中。由于空气净化系统通常会持续运行以最大限度地提高其效率，而且大多数人大部分时间都在室内度过，因此人类接触空气净化器的初级和次级产品可能会带来重大的暴露风险。这个观点强调在更广泛采用之前需要进一步研究化学反应性空气清洁和消毒方法。