Air care is a nearly $7 billion a year industry in the United States. Milwaukee-based Prolitec Inc. has focused on that market and has optimized a state-of-the-art technology in its products that can not only make the air in a space smell better, with its newest released product, aria, it can also make the air cleaner and healthier for people to breathe.

“The company formed after acquiring a technology that is capable of converting liquids into small particles that are 100th the diameter of a human hair,” said Richard Weening, chairman and chief executive officer of Prolitec. “The technology is extremely advanced and useful for a lot of different applications, but right now we are targeting the air quality and sanitation market.”

Prolitec’s aria air sanitizer is designed to infuse an air sanitizer that kills bacteria and viruses in the ambient air of Prolitec spaces, Weening said.

“We’re focused on implementing the aria technology in spaces where the likelihood of disease transmission is high,” he said. “Aria can substantially reduce bacteria levels in the air and is primarily used in hospital settings, senior care and living facilities or clinics.”

According to Weening, Prolitec uses its patented technology to turn a liquid chemical known as glycol into air sanitizing particles, which are then infused into the air in a specific space.

“The sanitizer is infused into the air in a very small quantity of one part per million,” Weening said. “Research indicates that glycol maintained at a certain concentration can substantially reduce airborne bacteria in a space and aria has the technology to measure and maintain that level over time.”

The air sanitizing chemical is also safe for continuous use in human-occupied spaces, Weening said.

Aria was developed by Prolitec’s Aerobiology & Infection Control Division and is approved by the EPA. The device functions around the clock and can automatically respond to airborne germs and bacteria generated by coughs and sneezes, Weening said.

“The spread of germs and disease in a hospital or clinical setting is a huge problem all over the world,” Weening said. “Not because those places aren’t clean, but because people that are sick are coming to them all the time to get well. Hospitals and hospital-like settings already have infection control programs in place. This is meant to be an automated supplement to that program. Aria is always on and can act as a foundation for those existing policies to improve results.”

Prolitec specializes in transforming the air ambience of a space. Prior to the aria air sanitation device, the company’s primary focus was scent, Weening said.

“Our biggest market right now is introducing scents into spaces,” he said. “If a certain space always smells a certain way, Abercrombie and Fitch stores across the country, for example, that’s us. We’re an air care company with a heavy emphasis on technology and using that technology to provide a service to our customers.”

Prolitec does business worldwide for its scent introductory system and hopes to expand the same way with the aria air sanitation device.

Aria air sanitizer can be used in spaces as large as entire hospital wings to smaller spaces like homes, offices and classrooms, Weening said.

In larger systems, aria is installed in air control or HVAC systems throughout the building. The device is installed with a recyclable replacement cartridge full of liquid that Prolitec certified partners can replace on an as-needed basis, Weening said.

“We provide aria as a monthly service with a one time single service fee where our people handle and maintain all the equipment,” he said. “Cartridges are replaced on an as- needed basis, which is determined based on what adjustable sanitation setting the space requires or desires.”

Prolitec has worked extensively in long term care and senior living facilities to implement aroma therapy devices, Weening said. According to Weening, individuals can purchase a Prolitec whole house air freshener system and an aria cartridge for use in the home, office or classroom.

“Our main focus is to implement the technology where infection control and the risk of spreading infectious diseases are high,” Weening said. “However, the technology can and should be used anywhere there is a need for reducing airborne bacteria. We are targeting hospital systems and long-term care facilities because the likelihood of spreading germs and bacteria are high and the most risky for patients and residents in those settings.”

In his new position, Clements will be responsible for directing domestic and global marketing of airborne and surface antimicrobial systems being developed by the division to inhibit disease transmission. Chief among these is aria™, the recently introduced ‘always-on’ air-sanitizing system designed to counter airborne bacteria in assisted living facilities, hospitals, medical offices and other enclosed spaces.

A veteran sales executive with over 15 years of sales and marketing experience, Clements comes to Prolitec from ScentAir, Charlotte, N.C., where he served as director of national account sales since May 2005. In that role, he directed all inside, national account and distribution partner marketing and sales activity for the scent marketing/aroma branding services company. Prior to that, he was director of sales for the government and military division of Gekay Sales & Service in Ludlow, Mass., responsible for the direction of all field marketing and sales activity for a new line of fitness equipment. Earlier in his career, Clements was southeast region senior sales manager for Irwin International, Alpharetta, GA, and director of merchandising for Triarc Beverage Group, White Plains, N.Y.

Clements, a resident of Charlotte, N.C., graduated from Pace University, Pleasantville, N.Y., with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

“I look forward to introducing aria™ and other superior technologies now under development by our scientific team to medical facilities, assisted living centers, schools, daycare centers and other markets where infection control is a vital issue,” said Clements. “In particular, the automated aria™ system fills a critical gap in infection control in facilities where commonly deployed protocols calling for hand-washing and frequent wiping of surfaces still fail to address the issue of airborne bacteria.”

About Prolitec
Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) develops and deploys air-treatment and air care technologies for healthcare facilities, hotels, casinos, and other institutional and commercial facilities in the U.S. and 46 countries around the world. The company’s Aerobiology and Infection Control division is engaged in the development and deployment of airborne and surface antimicrobial systems to inhibit disease transmission.

Via Marketwire

NEW ORLEANS, LA–(Marketwire – July 12, 2010) – Hand washing and frequent wiping of surfaces like counters and handrails are necessary elements in institutional infection-control protocols. Effective as these techniques are, however, they are labor intensive, not automated, and do nothing to counter airborne bacteria — one of the primary mechanisms for the spread of disease. With the introduction of Prolitec, Inc.’s aria™ air-sanitizing agent, assisted-living facilities, hospitals, medical offices, and other enclosed spaces finally have a means of addressing this critical gap in infection control.

Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection Control division unveiled the new aria™ system today at the annual conference of the Washington, D.C.-based Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, in New Orleans.

The aria™ air-sanitizing system, which won EPA registration in November 2009, uses newly patented Prolitec technology to generate an invisible “dry” vapor of a safe and effective air sanitizing agent. The vapor can be distributed within a space directly from a small wall-mounted appliance or indirectly through an air handler. The result is a uniformly distributed vapor compliant with OSHA air-contaminant restrictions for workplace inhalation — one that is non-damaging to materials and electronics, yet significantly decreases the numbers of viable airborne bacteria under relatively wide conditions of relative humidity and temperature.

“Bacteria and other microorganisms are frequently introduced into the air by actions such as sneezing and coughing. Once microorganisms are airborne they can be inhaled or can settle and contaminate surfaces,” noted Dr. Craig A. Kelly, a veteran Johns Hopkins University scientist and chief of Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection-Control unit. “The function of the aria™ system is to reduce the concentration of airborne bacteria in a continuous and automated manner, thereby reducing the likelihood of inhalation or surface-settling of viable microorganisms.”

“An important feature of aria™ is that it is fully automated and works 24 hours a day, seven days a week without any human intervention,” noted Richard Weening, CEO of Milwaukee-based Prolitec. “The aria™ system can safely and effectively reduce background levels of airborne bacteria to establish the foundation of a successful infection-control protocol. It is the one part of the program that will always be 100% compliant.”

Dr. Kelly added: “Amid heightened awareness of disease transmission by airborne microorganisms, aria™ provides a critical tool for the infection-control professional to address airborne bacteria in a way that was not previously available. That can translate into a greater sense of safety and well-being for patients, residents, caregivers and visitors alike.”

About Prolitec
Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) develops and deploys air-treatment and air care technologies, including odor control, ambient scenting, aromatherapy and the use of scent as a medium of communication. Clients include assisted-living facilities, hotels, casinos, retailers and other commercial organizations in the United States and around the world. Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection Control Unit is developing interior air and surface systems to inhibit disease transmission.

MILWAUKEE, Wisc. (6/10/10)–Prolitec Inc. today announced the appointment of Dr. Craig A. Kelly as Vice President and Director of Technology Development.

The veteran Johns Hopkins University scientist will also serve as chief of the company’s Aerobiology and Infection Control unit.  In this role, Dr. Kelly will lead Prolitec’s research and development of airborne and surface antimicrobial systems designed to kill bacteria and viruses in healthcare facilities, schools, assisted living facilities, commercial aircraft, and other public spaces where the control of infection transmission is an important issue.

“We have long experience working with Dr. Kelly in some of his earlier assignments,” said Richard Weening, CEO of Prolitec.  “He is exactly the right person to expand the R&D effort and transform the work into the practical infection control applications so urgently needed by the healthcare system.”

Prior to joining Prolitec, Dr. Kelly spent 10 years as a member of the Senior Professional Staff at Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Lab in Baltimore, where he worked on a wide range of projects, including chemical and biological warfare agent decontamination.  Most recently, from 2009 to 2010, he served as Acting Program Manager for the laboratory’s Missile Defense Agency Sensors Directorate.  He began at the laboratory in 1999, initially working on chemical sensor development.

Dr. Kelly has published 21 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has been awarded three patents.   He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Inorganic Chemistry from Bowling Green State University and a B.S. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Geneseo.  Additionally, he completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Chemistry Department, Johns Hopkins’ Department of Chemistry and Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory.

“Infection control is a serious challenge for healthcare, education and several other sectors where harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi pose a threat to humans,” Dr. Kelly noted. “Prolitec has developed new and promising technologies to address these issues.   Our objective is to advance them into fully operational systems approved by the relevant regulatory agencies.”

About Prolitec

Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) develops and deploys air-treatment and air care technologies, including odor control, ambient scenting, aromatherapy and the use of scent as a medium of communication. Clients include assisted living facilities, hotels, casinos, retailers and other commercial facilities in the U.S. and 46 countries around the world. Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection Control unit is developing interior air and surface systems to inhibit disease transmission.

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“Because this bird-control system is always on, the birds don’t come back,” said Richard Weening, CEO of Prolitec. “That is a significant breakthrough.”

Branded “Avian Plus,”(TM) the new system was created by Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection-Control Unit. It is available in the United States from Mission View, Calif.-based Bird-B-Gone, Inc., a Prolitec distribution partner and leading provider of pest bird deterrents. The new system will be available from Bird-B-Gone’s pest-control clients in approximately 52 metropolitan areas.

“The bird control market worldwide is growing 20% annually and consists of hundreds of products, each with varying degrees of success,” noted Bruce Donoho, owner of Bird-B-Gone, which has manufactured and distributed bird control products worldwide since 1992. “Being the leader in bird control means that we have a responsibility to offer only the most effective products to our wide base of customers. We’re honored to partner with Prolitec in introducing and distributing the Avian Plus System. It offers significant advantages in the bird hazing product category and we’re excited about its potential.”

Avian Plus uses a proprietary formulation of fragrance and flavor ingredients engineered to be pleasant for humans but unpleasant for birds. Prolitec’s patented “always on” micro-droplet delivery systems ensure continuous bird control by maintaining a minute concentration of the fragrance in the rafters and other locations frequented by pest birds.

In the past, owners and managers of high-ceilinged structures like warehouses, big-box stores and airplane hangers have either used cumbersome netting or mist-sprayers and foggers to spray the rafters with a bird repellant. “The birds would scram, but only temporarily,” Weening noted, “and the foggers would leave residues on surfaces.” Prolitec’s delivery systems, by contrast, keep birds out of enclosed spaces for good by maintaining a constant level of bird-repelling scent within targeted areas. “The ‘always-on’ continuous-control approach is a significant improvement over fogging,” he said.

Moreover, Prolitec delivery systems such as the Air/Q 1100 employ patented micro-droplet technology that uses a fraction of the liquid formulation required for more conventional systems. “Prolitec’s micro-droplets are a million times lighter than conventional aerosol droplets and, ounce-for-ounce, have 10,000- times more exposed surface area,” Weening said. “In short, a little bit goes a very long way.”

Avian Plus has an on-board computer that enables users to control the scent-effect intensity and daily start and stop times.

Prolitec offers wall-mounted, HVAC-integrated or freestanding Air/Q systems that disperse the scent in spaces as small as a single room and as large as a whole building. Avian Plus can be used in conjunction with modified units that include accelerators designed to direct the scent formulation up into the rafters. Maintenance of these systems is as simple as a 30-second change of a recyclable cartridge. Avian Plus comes in two scent formulations: linen and fruit.

Beloved as they are in nature, birds carry over 60 diseases transmittable to humans, and their roosts and nests can also host ecto-parasites like bird mites. Commonly labeled as pest birds in the United States, species such as the feral pigeon, the English starling and the house sparrow pose serious problems in airplane hangers, retail stores, warehouses, restaurants and other businesses.

About Prolitec

Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) is a world leader in the development and deployment of innovative air-treatment and air care technologies including odor control, ambient scenting and the use of scent as a medium of communication. Clients include retailers, hotels, casinos and other commercial organizations in the U.S. and in 20 countries around the world. Prolitec’s Aerobiology and Infection Control Unit develops human-safe and green systems for controlling pests and killing airborne and surface bacteria and viruses.

About Bird-B-Gone

Bird-B-Gone Inc. (http://birdbgone.com) is the leading manufacturer of bird deterrents and is dedicated to solving pest bird problems. The business of bird control is constantly changing and is loaded with products and services with varied successes as bird barriers. Because Bird-B-Gone, Inc. is only involved with bird control, it is our business to stay on top of this evolution and provide our customers only the best in products and service.

Source: PR Newswire

Prolitec’s ARIA(TM) formulation works with HVAC-based delivery system to kill airborne odor causing bacteria and mold, fungus and organisms

MILWAUKEE, WI, Jan. 19 — Aerosol sprays that kill odor-causing bacteria in the air — including mold and fungal spores — clearly are a hit with consumers. But these products treat enclosed rooms one at a time, and their effects are temporary. A new chemical formulation and delivery system created by Prolitec, Inc., can be programmed to sanitize the air continuously or during specific times of day throughout HVAC ducts and occupied enclosed spaces — with applications ranging from homes to medical facilities; doctor, dentist and veterinary offices; schools and classrooms; long-term care facilities, health clubs, bars, hotels, cruise ships, schools, theaters and gaming facilities.

The new air-sanitizing agent, called ARIA™, won EPA registration in November. It works in tandem with Prolitec’s existing family of Air/Q ambient-scenting and odor-control systems, which already are widely used in the hospitality, gaming and retail sectors. Moreover, ARIA will also be available for the home via a soon-to-be-announced, next-generation version of Air/Q that Prolitec custom-designed for residential use. Because of its ability to continually sanitize the air within enclosed spaces, ARIA is of keen interest to HVAC professionals for continuously cleaning the air in ducts and any type of indoor facility where airborne odor causing bacteria and mold may thrive.

“ARIA and an Air/Q appliance provide a simple-to-use, cost-effective system to continuously sanitize the air we breathe,” said Richard Weening, Chairman and CEO of the Milwaukee-based Prolitec. “This is a real first, and we believe it is reasonable to call it a breakthrough. What is more, the EPA registration verifies our claims about what ARIA can do.

“ARIA is effective in a wide range of spaces from very small to very large,” he continued. The product uses Prolitec’s HVAC-mounted system for homes and larger commercial spaces, while the company’s table-top, wall or ceiling mounted units can serve individual rooms up to 20,000 cubic feet. Available in odorless or scented versions, ARIA is invisible, leaving no surface deposits.

Prolitec’s computer-controlled system Air/Q system works by converting the ARIA formulation into non-toxic, micro-droplets less than 1/100th the diameter of a human hair to instantly create a sanitizing vapor throughout the enclosed space. ARIA is packaged in tamper-proof, recyclable cartridges that are easily inserted into the installed Air/Q appliance, and changed periodically by the user in the home or office, or by Prolitec service technicians in large commercial facilities.

Today’s consumers show a clear preference toward pleasant ambient-scent experiences, and they also are more concerned than ever about potentially harmful airborne odor-causing bacteria and mold in their home. Indeed, this concern has helped fuel growth of an entire industry focused on cleaning HVAC ducts. Some of these companies even try to sweep away vegetative mold spores. “The challenge is that, mold spores are typically 1/50th the diameter of a hair, which is less than a micron in diameter,” Weening said. “Trying to physically sweep or vacuum them up is really not possible. The ARIA approach, by contrast, kills airborne mold and fungal spores circulating within HVAC systems, and helps prevent them from spreading within the home or building.”

Prolitec, which has filed preliminary patent applications for ARIA’s key processes, will unveil the new formulation and delivery system on January 26 at the AHR Expo show in Chicago.

About Prolitec

Prolitec (www.prolitec.com) is a world leader in the development and deployment of innovative air-freshening technologies and solutions for aerobiology, indoor air quality and the use of scent as a medium of communication. Clients include retailers, hotels, casinos and other commercial organizations in the US and around the world.

Via MarketWatch

Coincidentally, this is exactly one year after an Air Sense post about the initial UK trials (see Scent machines used in war against hospital superbug).

Related links:

• Signature Aromas
• MRSA Resources

Aerobiologists will also be gathering in Buenos Aires, Argentina in August 2010 at the 9th International Congress on Aerobiology. Read more on that conference here