給家里買一臺空氣凈化器是個好主意嗎?

給家里買一臺空氣凈化器是個好主意嗎?

As people spend more time together indoors with the changing of the seasons, could an air cleaner provide an added layer of protection against the transmission of the coronavirus by removing a percentage of viral particles from the air?

隨著季節(jié)的變化，人們花更多的時間呆在室內(nèi)，空氣凈化器能否通過從空氣中去除一定比例的病毒顆粒，增加一層保護，防止冠狀病毒的傳播?

Remember how hard it was to buy hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes back in March? Not many people were stockpiling portable air cleaners back then. But engineers and doctors say these devices could play an important role in protecting your family from COVID-19 — especially as people start spending more time indoors as outdoor air temperatures fall in the Northern Hemisphere.

還記得3月份買洗手液和消毒劑有多困難嗎?那時并沒有多少人囤積便攜式空氣凈化器。但工程師和醫(yī)生說，這些設備可能在保護你的家人免受COVID-19感染方面發(fā)揮重要作用，尤其是在北半球室外氣溫下降，人們開始更多地呆在室內(nèi)的情況下。

"It's a relatively easy way to get clean air in a place where people are in close contact," says Joseph Gardner Allen, an associate professor of exposure assessment science who directs the Healthy Buildings program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. "It's a simple plug and play solution in that area." (He bought one in March.)

“在人們密切接觸的地方獲得清潔空氣是一種相對容易的方法，”哈佛大學T.H.Chan公共衛(wèi)生學院健康建筑項目負責人、接觸評估科學副教授約瑟夫·戈登·艾倫說。“這是一個簡單的即插即用解決方案”。(他在3月份買了一臺。)

With new attention on the role that aerosolized microdroplets could play in the spread of COVID-19, should you rush out to buy a portable air cleaner for home use?

隨著霧化的微滴可能在COVID-19傳播中發(fā)揮的作用得到新的關注，你是否應該沖出去買一臺家用的便攜式空氣凈化器?

The frustrating short answer is, "It depends."

令人沮喪的簡短回答是:“視情況而定。”

It's accepted that the coronavirus can move in multiple ways, though less is understood about how each contributes to transmission of the disease. Those possible transmission methods include short-range airborne particles, ballistic droplets from coughing or sneezing, long-range airborne particles and contaminated surfaces.

人們普遍認為，冠狀病毒可以以多種方式傳播，但人們對每種傳播方式對疾病傳播的影響知之甚少。這些可能的傳播方式包括短程空氣傳播的顆粒、咳嗽或打噴嚏產(chǎn)生的飛沫、遠距離空氣傳播的顆粒和受污染的表面。

Portable air cleaners can limit the spread of the virus via long-range airborne particles by capturing most of those particles in a HEPA filter and cleaning the air at a rate of up to six times per hour.

便攜式空氣凈化器可以通過高效空氣過濾器捕捉大部分這些顆粒，并以每小時6次的速度清潔空氣，從而限制病毒通過長距離空氣傳播。

So, in the right circumstances, portable air cleaners offer an additional layer of protection.

因此，在適當?shù)那闆r下，便攜式空氣凈化器提供了額外的一層保護。

If you're living by yourself and you don't have guests over, it's not going to add any protection.

如果你是一個人住，沒有客人，這不會增加任何保護措施。

But if you occasionally host a family member who works on the front lines, or if you return home after an exposure on campus, the benefits are likely worth the cost. And if someone in your house gets sick with COVID-19? Definitely worth the investment.

但是，如果你偶爾接待一個在前線工作的家庭成員，或者你在校園里呆了一段時間后回到家里，這些好處很可能是值得的。如果你家里有人感染了COVID-19?絕對值得投資。