White House Disinfected Using EMist Electrostatic Sprayers

TruElectrostatic Disinfection™: High touch surfaces disinfected to ensure healthy environment

To ensure the safety and health of staff and visitors and to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19, the White House staff focuses on disinfecting using EMist Electrostatic Disinfectant Sprayers. EMist also played a pivotal role in disinfection during the 2014 Ebola crisis.

EMist Electrostatic Disinfectant Sprayers
In a very short time, the pandemic has changed our world. The virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mainly spreads from person to person. When someone who is infected coughs or sneezes, they send droplets containing the virus into the air. A healthy person can then breathe in those droplets. It can also spread from a person who has the virus to any surface he or she touches. The coronavirus can live for hours to days on surfaces like countertops and doorknobs. How long it survives depends on the material the surface is made from.

APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Trump

EMist Used Worldwide
Industries using EMist electrostatic disinfectant sprayers to combat COVID-19 include aviation, education, facility management, government, healthcare, hospitality, retail, sports, and transportation. With such enormous square footage of surfaces in the world, efficient surface methods are needed for environmental disinfection. Prior to COVID, disinfection of surfaces was achieved through manual application of liquid disinfectants (spray bottles and wipes). This method has been shown to be labor intensive and uses about 75% more chemical as compared to alternate means.

Application of Disinfectants Using Electrostatic Sprayers 
There has been increased application of disinfectants on List N via electrostatic sprayers given the need to disinfect large spaces to reduce the risk of exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. Complete, comprehensive disinfectant surface coverage can be achieved using electrostatic sprayers.

How Electrostatic Sprayers Work 
Electrostatic sprayers work by charging the liquid disinfectant as it passes through a nozzle. Per the EPA, positively charged disinfectant droplets are attracted to negatively charged environmental surfaces allowing for improved coverage on hard, non-porous environmental surfaces.

Electrostatic Sprayers: Technology Matters 
It is important to note that most environmental surfaces have a negative or neutral charge (the earth itself is negative). As such, for true electrostatic adhesion to occur, electrostatic sprayers should impart a positive charge so that the positively charged disinfectant droplets are attracted to targeted negative or neutral surfaces. NOTE: EMist electrostatic disinfectant sprayers provide a positive charge to droplets.

The Expansion Cloud Effect explains how charged droplets are repelled by objects with a like charge. Coulomb’s Law describes that like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract each other. As droplets leave the electrostatic sprayer nozzle, they race to find their oppositely charged surfaces, this causes them to spread out and wrap around three-dimensional objects. Just as the automobile painting industry discovered decades ago, using an electrostatic sprayer results in an even coating. This includes hard-to-reach areas typically not touched by manual application.

Droplet Size Matters
Droplet size is a critical factor. Droplets must be large enough to resist evaporation and drift but small enough that the droplets can change their trajectory when it comes close to an oppositely charged target. Most electrostatic nozzles produce droplets of less than < 40 microns (categorized as Very Fine). Such small droplets increase drift and pose a user safety concern per the EPA. Droplets of < 40 microns have a low terminal velocity causing them to fall slowly. This makes them highly drift-prone, decreasing the results of electrostatic adhesion and increasing user inhalation concerns. NOTE: EMist electrostatic disinfectant sprayers produce an average 75 micron droplet size.

TruElectrostatic Disinfection™: Patented. Proven. Safer.
• Patented: Proven 100% continuous and consistent electrostatic operation
• Better Performance: Positively charged droplets increase droplet adhesion and wrap, reduces labor and chemical costs
• Lower Total Cost of Ownership: Competitively priced equipment cost, advanced electrostatic performance significantly lowers labor and chemical costs for overall lower total cost of ownership
• User Operation and Safety: Cordless offers greater flexibility and portability – cordless allows users to move about freely without the hazard of tripping or tangling a cord or finding an outlet
• User Safety: Average 75 micron droplet size reduces operator inhalation concerns

Recognized As a World Leader in Electrostatics
EMist was founded on a legacy of technology and industrial designs by founder and inventor Mike Sides. Having more than 30 years experience in electrostatics, Mike works frequently with groups including the Department of Defense, Naval Entomology Center of Excellence, United States Department of Agriculture, World Health Organization, and the International Pest Application Research Center.