# Bacteria | C-POLAR Source: https://cpolar.tech/contaminants/bacteria/ Explore bacteria and the NanoFlashing™ approach to capturing and destroying them. This is the text of that page, in a form a machine can read. Nothing in it is paraphrased or shortened. After it come short extracts from other C-POLAR pages, each quoted word for word with the page it comes from. --- ## Bacteria ## Bacteria spread infection by air, and they're negatively charged Most bacteria are harmless, but some spread illness through the air. In hospitals, airborne bacteria like Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas help drive an estimated [687,000 infections a year](https://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer/health-care-associated-infections), about one in 31 patients on any given day. Bacterial [pneumonia is roughly 15%](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8296088/) of them, and a growing share [resist the antibiotics](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance) we rely on. Every bacterial cell [carries a negative charge](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11118650/). ### Airborne bacterial infections are surging across America Reported cases, Legionnaires', whooping cough, TB, and meningococcal, have surged in the last few years, to about 52,000 in 2024. Pneumonia, the biggest, hospitalizes roughly 1.5 million Americans a year. Reported cases per 100,000 Lower Higher 2024 0 cases ## What bacteria do to you A conventional filter loads with living bacteria 99.99% living bacteria in 1 mg of a used filter. A conventional filter catches bacteria, but it does not kill them. In the warm, damp media, the bacteria stay alive. The University of Minnesota [recovered 39 species of live bacteria](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18385868/) from the HVAC filters of two U.S. buildings, mostly the hardy, spore-forming kind. A study in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found car cabin filters carried [Mycobacterium, the genus that includes tuberculosis](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38691999/), with more than 400 species and up to 26,000 living colonies in a single milligram. The filter meant to remove bacteria becomes a reservoir of them, held alive in the airstream it feeds. In hospitals, [about 60% of ventilation samples carried multidrug-resistant bacteria](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8307074/), the ones antibiotics no longer reliably kill. Heavy dust load 100 million live bacteria 100× the standard test dose NanoFlashing™ Control ## NanoFlashing™ captures the bacteria, and destroys it Independent testing shows NanoFlashing™ destroys up to 99.99% of a broad spectrum of bacteria through a physical mechanism. Bacteria tested - Staphylococcus aureus - Klebsiella pneumoniae - Escherichia coli - Pseudomonas aeruginosa - Enterococcus faecalis Tested by - Massachusetts General Hospital - Harvard Medical School - Textile Testing Institute - Brno, Czech Republic - Hong Kong Metropolitan University - The Open University of Hong Kong C-POLAR footer I have read and agree to the [Terms of Use](/terms/), including the US$100 liability cap, the obligations concerning certain third-party claims caused by business misuse, and the exclusive court location, and to the [Privacy Policy](/privacy/). #### Navigation - [Science](/nanoflashing/) - [Applications](/air/) - [About C-POLAR](/about/) - [Contact Us](/contact/) #### Follow us - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/c-polar/) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/people/C-Polar-Technologies-Inc/61580775117789/) - [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/cpolarco?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsi=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==) - [Shop Now](https://shop.cpolartechnologies.com/) © 2026 C-POLAR Technologies, Inc. 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[Privacy Policy](/privacy/)[Terms of Use](/terms/) [Back to top ↑](#) ## The evidence panels on this page A University of Louisville study found that among older adults hospitalized for pneumonia, 38% were dead within a year, the year after is deadlier than the hospital stay itself. - Source: [38% were dead within a year](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31916246/) The UK government's O'Neill review projected that antibiotic-resistant infections could kill 10 million people a year by 2050, more than cancer kills today. - Source: [kill 10 million people a year by 2050](https://amr-review.org/sites/default/files/160518_Final%20paper_with%20cover.pdf) Researchers counted about 1.6 million American adults hospitalized with pneumonia a year. - Source: [about 1.6 million American adults hospitalized with pneumonia](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29020164/) ### Lungs The CDC's EPIC study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found pneumonia hospitalizes about 1 in 400 adults a year, and sends 1 in 5 of them to intensive care. - Source: [about 1 in 400 adults](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26172429/) Pneumonia is a leading trigger of acute respiratory distress syndrome — when the lungs flood with fluid — and a 50-country study found ARDS kills about 4 in 10 in intensive care. - Source: [kills about 4 in 10 in intensive care](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26903337/) Legionnaires' disease was born in the air: a Philadelphia hotel's air-conditioning spread it through a 1976 convention, sickening 182 people and killing 29. - Source: [sickening 182 people and killing 29](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/335244/) ### Blood When infection breaks into the blood it triggers sepsis — the CDC counts 1.7 million American adults with it each year, and at least 350,000 die. - Source: [1.7 million American adults](https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/about/index.html) A Harvard study in JAMA of nearly 3 million patients found sepsis was present in 1 in every 3 hospital deaths. - Source: [1 in every 3 hospital deaths](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5710396/) ### Heart A University of Ottawa study found the risk of a heart attack or stroke jumps about fourfold in the 30 days after a pneumonia — and stays raised for years. - Source: [heart attack or stroke jumps about fourfold](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25602997/) Strep throat's long shadow — rheumatic heart disease, which scars the heart's valves — killed about 319,000 people worldwide in a single year. - Source: [killed about 319,000 people](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28834488/) When bacteria settle on a heart valve, infective endocarditis eats it away — up to 30% of patients die, and half need surgery. - Source: [up to 30% of patients die](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6964163/) ### Brain Meningococcal disease can kill within hours — the CDC reports it kills up to 1 in 7 even when treated, and leaves as many as 1 in 5 survivors deaf or with amputated limbs. - Source: [kills up to 1 in 7 even when treated](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK620871/) A University of Michigan study in JAMA found that surviving severe sepsis tripled the odds of lasting memory and thinking loss — declines that persisted for up to 8 years. - Source: [tripled the odds of lasting memory and thinking loss](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3345288/) Sepsis survivors also carry a measurably higher risk of dementia in the years that follow. - Source: [higher risk of dementia](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8959917/) ### Kidneys As sepsis takes hold it can shut down the kidneys — the CDC lists acute kidney injury among its most common and dangerous complications, and many patients end up on dialysis. - Source: [acute kidney injury](https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/about/index.html) --- ## Extracts from other C-POLAR pages - [NanoFlashing™ Air Filter: United States regulatory status | C-POLAR](https://cpolar.tech/reference/us-regulatory-status/) - [Validation | C-POLAR](https://cpolar.tech/validation/)