ActivePure
{{Infobox company
| name = ActivePure Technologies, LLC
| logo = ActivePure company logo.jpg
| industry = Air and surface purification, floor care, healthcare infection prevention, water filtration and treatment
| founded = 1924 as Electrolux Corp. USA
| hq_location_city = Dallas, TX
| owner = Joseph P. Urso
| website = {{URL|activepure.com}}
}}
ActivePure Technologies, LLC is a private technology manufacturing company headquartered in Dallas, Texas. With its main facilities in Bristol, Virginia, the company creates air purifiers for distributors. Many of these products contain photohydrolysis-based purification cells, which the company refers to as ActivePure Technology.{{Cite journal |last=Selitrennikoff |first=Claude P. |last2=Sylvia |first2=Charles |last3=Sanchez |first3=Maria |last4=Lawrence |first4=Patricia |last5=Trosch |first5=Kimberly |last6=Carenza |first6=Amy |last7=Meschter |first7=Carol |date=2024-10-09 |title=Evaluate the safety of a novel photohydrolysis technology used to clean and disinfect indoor air: A murine study |url=https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0307031 |journal=PLoS One |language=en |volume=19 |issue=10 |pages=e0307031 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0307031 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11463749 |pmid=39383125 |doi-access=free}} ActivePure sells to distributors in 72 countries.{{Cite web |title=Light-Induced Oxidation Cleans Air, Surfaces, Clothes {{!}} NASA Spinoff |url=https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2018/cg_2.html |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=spinoff.nasa.gov}} As of 2021, Aerus Holdings changed its name to ActivePure Technologies.
History
Founded in 1924 by Gustaf Sahlin as Electrolux USA, the company principally produced long-lasting, repairable canister vacuums for both door-to-door salesmen and retail distribution.{{Cite web |last=Evans |first=Vicki |date=2021-05-06 |title='Right to Repair is a win for consumers,' says Electrolux |url=https://www.kbbreview.com/37328/news/right-to-repair-is-a-win-for-consumers-says-electrolux/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=kbbreview |language=en-US}}
The company was acquired by an investment group led by Joseph P. Urso in 1998. Urso renamed the company Aerus Holdings LLC to reflect a focus air purification products. The company later introduced water purification to its product line.
In 2015, the Southern California Gas Company purchased 10,000 RCI-based air purifiers from Aerus to assist residents during the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak.{{Cite web |title=Light-Induced Oxidation Cleans Air, Surfaces, Clothes |url=https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2018/cg_2.html |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=spinoff.nasa.gov}}
In 2017, Aerus's engineering team presented a new version of RCI technology which the company named ActivePure. ActivePure was inducted into the Space Foundation’s Space Technology Hall of Fame later that year.{{Cite web |last=developer |date=2017-03-02 |title=Air Purification and Plant Growth Innovations are Space Technology Hall of Fame Inductees |url=https://www.spacefoundation.org/2017/03/02/air-purification-and-plant-growth-innovations-are-space-technology-hall-of-fame-inductees/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Space Foundation |language=en-US}} The Hall of Fame recognizes technologies that improve life on Earth after being originally developed for space.{{Cite web |title=Space Technology Hall of Fame |url=https://www.spacefoundation.org/what-we-do/space-technology-hall-of-fame/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Space Foundation |language=en-US}}
In 2020, ActivePure Medical was created to focus on purifiers for healthcare facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aerus Medical Guardian, renamed the ActivePure Medical Guardian, was certified as a Class II Medical Device by the FDA.{{Cite web |title=510(k) Premarket Notification |url=https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K201220 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509170721/https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K201220 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 9, 2021 |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.accessdata.fda.gov}}
In 2021, Aerus Holdings changed its name to ActivePure Technologies LLC, after its core technology.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company expanded its executive team. Its most high-profile hiring was the appointment of former Whitehouse Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx as its Chief Medical and Science advisor.{{Cite web |date=2021-03-26 |title=Birx joins air-cleaning industry amid land grab for billions in federal COVID relief |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/birx-joins-air-cleaning-industry-amid-land-grab-for-billions-in-federal-covid-relief |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=PBS News |language=en-us}}
In 2023, a peer-reviewed study reported a 3-fold reduction of airborne SARS-CoV-2 virus in the rooms of COVID patients using purifiers manufactured by ActivePure.{{Cite journal |last=Orenes-Piñero |first=Esteban |last2=Moreno-Docón |first2=Antonio |last3=Candela-González |first3=Joana |last4=Navas-Carrillo |first4=Diana |last5=Ortega-García |first5=Juan A. |last6=Ramírez |first6=Pablo |date=2022-12-15 |title=Confirmation of radiant catalytic ionization efficacy for airborne SARS-CoV-2 elimination indoors using "COVID19 traps" |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36442385/ |journal=Journal of Infection and Public Health |volume=15 |issue=12 |pages=1551–1554 |doi=10.1016/j.jiph.2022.11.014 |issn=1876-035X |pmc=9678206 |pmid=36442385}}
In 2024, a peer-reviewed study reported the total elimination of hospital-acquired MRSA infections in ICUs using purifiers manufactured by ActivePure.{{Cite journal |last=Trosch |first=Kimberly |last2=Lawrence |first2=Patricia |last3=Carenza |first3=Amy |last4=Baumgarten |first4=Katherine |last5=Lambert |first5=Beth Ann |last6=Leger |first6=Nattie |last7=Berthelot |first7=Lori |last8=Woosley |first8=Melissa |last9=Birx |first9=Deborah |date=2024-04-11 |title=The effects of a novel, continuous disinfectant technology on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), fungi, and aerobic bacteria in 2 separate intensive care units in 2 different states: An experimental design with observed impact on health care associated infections (HAIs) |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38614410/ |journal=American Journal of Infection Control |volume=52 |issue=8 |pages=884–892 |doi=10.1016/j.ajic.2024.03.013 |issn=1527-3296 |pmid=38614410|doi-access=free }}
Technology
The company’s technology is descended from a photocatalysis-based device developed by the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics called the “ethylene scrubber” which was first used in the space shuttle Columbia. ActivePure's version uses a UV bulb, a proprietary catalyst, and a patented honeycomb matrix. The company refers to its technology as photohydrolysis. Earlier versions of the technology were referred to as Radiant Catalytic Ionization.{{Cite web |last=developer |date=2017-03-02 |title=Air Purification and Plant Growth Innovations are Space Technology Hall of Fame Inductees |url=https://www.spacefoundation.org/2017/03/02/air-purification-and-plant-growth-innovations-are-space-technology-hall-of-fame-inductees/ |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Space Foundation |language=en-US}}
ActivePure points to two peer-reviewed studies as evidence of the efficacy of its technology in the field, in addition to its results in the laboratory.
Related companies
ActivePure is owned by the same group as some of its distributors.
- Air Scrubber is ActivePure's HVAC distribution arm. It focuses on in-duct and portable systems.
- ActivePure Medical is a dedicated division within ActivePure Technologies. The division focuses on healthcare and healthcare-related markets.
- Aerus is a franchise-based distributor of ActivePure products. It sells other air purifiers, portable heaters, water treatment systems, and vacuum cleaners.