Mitigating Biological Threats Through Clean Indoor Air

The document advocates for the use of ventilation, filtration, disinfection, and monitoring to mitigate the spread of airborne biological threats. It highlights that clean indoor air serves as a 'day-zero defense' when medical countermeasures are unavailable and is essential for maintaining military readiness and cognitive performance. The brief details specific technologies, such as HEPA filters and far-UVC light, and notes the current inadequacies in ventilation within federal and military facilities.

• Clean indoor air acts as a 'day-zero defense' because it can be deployed immediately against novel pathogens, whereas vaccines or therapeutics may take months to become available and personal protective equipment (PPE) often suffers from supply chain shortages.
• Poor indoor air quality negatively impacts military readiness and costs. High-density barracks can double the risk of illness, and a 2020 COVID-19 outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) infected over 1,200 crew members. Direct medical costs for a COVID-19 encounter in the Military Health System were estimated at $606 per active duty Army service member, with indirect costs from lost duty being seven times higher.
• Indoor air quality directly affects cognitive function and decision-making; concentrations of carbon dioxide at 1000 ppm or higher, as well as moderate increases in PM2.5 (fine particulate matter < 2.5 micrometers), impair performance.
• Four primary technologies mitigate airborne threats: ventilation (replacing indoor air with outdoor air), filtration (using HEPA filters to remove 99.97% of particles), disinfection (using GUV), and monitoring (using CO2 as a proxy for risk).
• Many buildings, including federal and military facilities, fail to meet basic ventilation standards. While the CDC recommends 5 air changes per hour (ACH) for workplaces, the average building typically has only a couple of ACH.
• Germicidal ultraviolet light (GUV) is highly effective at inactivating pathogens. Far-UVC (222 nm) is safer for human exposure than conventional 254 nm GUV and can reduce coronavirus concentrations by 99.9% in 25 minutes, which is equivalent to a ventilation rate of 36 ACH.
• Real-time airborne pathogen surveillance is an emerging field; ARPA-H’s BREATHE program is currently funding research to develop integrated systems for continual measurement and real-time interventions in indoor air quality.

APA

The Council on Strategic Risks (2025). Mitigating Biological Threats Through Clean Indoor Air. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/12/04/mitigating-biological-threats-through-clean-indoor-air/

Chicago

The Council on Strategic Risks. Mitigating Biological Threats Through Clean Indoor Air. 2025. https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/12/04/mitigating-biological-threats-through-clean-indoor-air/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=The Council on Strategic Risks |title=Mitigating Biological Threats Through Clean Indoor Air |date=4 December 2025 |url=https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/12/04/mitigating-biological-threats-through-clean-indoor-air/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thecouncilonstrategicrisks2025mitigating, author = {{The Council on Strategic Risks}}, title = {{Mitigating Biological Threats Through Clean Indoor Air}}, institution = {The Council on Strategic Risks}, year = {2025}, month = dec, url = {https://councilonstrategicrisks.org/2025/12/04/mitigating-biological-threats-through-clean-indoor-air/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }