CREM Co Labs Announces Breakthrough Aerobiology Study on Airborne Mammalian Viruses

New peer-reviewed study published in Journal of Virological Methods expands CREM Co Labs’ large-chamber aerobiology protocol from bacteria, and virus surrogates to mammalian viruses including human coronavirus, human rhinovirus, and feline calicivirus, marking an industry first in aerobiology testing.

Mississauga, Ontario, March 26, 2025 – CREM Co Labs (CREM) today announced the publication of a groundbreaking research study titled “The stability and elimination of mammalian enveloped and non-enveloped respiratory and enteric viruses in indoor air: Testing using a room-sized aerobiology chamber” in the Journal of Virological Methods (2025) [1]. This study significantly expands CREM’s established aerobiology testing protocol, originally designed for bacteria and virus surrogates, to now include actual mammalian viruses such as human coronavirus, human rhinovirus, and feline calicivirus (a surrogate for human norovirus). Demonstrating survival and elimination of these viruses in a 25 m³ (900 ft³) test chamber, CREM has become the first laboratory to successfully conduct large chamber aerosol studies on pathogenic mammalian viruses using a modified ASTM and US EPA-approved method, a major step forward for evaluating indoor air disinfection technologies.

This new research builds upon CREM’s proven track record:

• In 2016, CREM Co Labs developed the original room-sized chamber protocol to study airborne bacteria [2, 3].
• In 2021, this protocol was standardized as ASTM International standard ASTM E3273-21 [4]. The same year, CREM expanded the method to virus testing using enveloped and non-enveloped bacteriophages (MS2 and phi6) through direct air capture [5].
• In 2022, these protocols received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The first air sanitizer with an EPA-registered virucidal claim was approved using these methods in late 2022 [6].
• The current 2025 study is the first to study survival and inactivation of actual mammalian viruses in room-sized chamber using a modified ASTM method, significantly advancing aerobiology testing [1].

Dr. Bahram Zargar, CEO and co-founder of CREM Co Labs, emphasized, “This protocol not only bridges an important gap in aerobiology research but also supports regulators and manufacturers by providing a robust, standardized method to evaluate air decontamination technologies.”

CREM Co Labs operates two advanced aerobiology facilities featuring state-of-the-art test chambers, approximately 25 m³ (900 ft³)  and 30 m³ (1000 ft³), enabling comprehensive airborne pathogen studies under realistic indoor conditions.

CREM Co Labs remains committed to innovation and scientific excellence, continuously leading efforts to protect public health through pioneering microbiological research and validated testing protocols.

References:

1. Zargar B., Sattar S.A., McKinney J., Ijaz M.K., The stability and elimination of mammalian enveloped and non-enveloped respiratory and enteric viruses in indoor air: Testing using a room-sized aerobiology chamber. J Virol Methods. 2025; 335:115144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jviromet.2025.115144
2. Zargar B., Kashkooli F.M. , Soltani M. , Wright K.E. , Ijaz M.K. , Sattar S.A. , Mathematical modeling and simulation of bacterial distribution in an aerobiology chamber using computational fluid dynamics, Am. J. Infect. Control, 44 (2016), pp. S127-S137, 10.1016/j.ajic.2016.06.005
3. Sattar S.A., Kibbee R.J., Zargar B., Wright K.E. , Rubino J.R., Ijaz M.K.  Decontamination of indoor air to reduce exposure to airborne bacteria. Am. J. Infect. Control. 2016;  pp. e177-e182, doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2016.03.067
4. ASTM International. ASTM E3273-21 Standard Practice to Assess Microbial Decontamination of Indoor Air using an Aerobiology Chamber. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International; 2021. https://store.astm.org/e3273-21.html
5. Zargar, B., Sattar, S. A., Kibbee, R., Rubino, J., & Khalid Ijaz, M. (2022). Direct and quantitative capture of viable bacteriophages from experimentally contaminated indoor air: A model for the study of airborne vertebrate viruses including SARS-CoV-2. Journal of applied microbiology, 132(2), 1489–1495. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.15262
6. US EPA October 6^th 2022 “EPA Registers Air Sanitizer for Residential and Commercial Use Against Influenza and Coronavirus”, https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/epa-registers-air-sanitizer-residential-and-commercial-use-against-influenza-and