Justin Insalaco, co-Founder, operations director, of Electro-Ion Cleaning electrostatically disinfects and sanitizes restaurant tables.
By Tiffany Senft
Long before most of the world ever heard of Wuhan, China, Justin Insalaco was starting a small disinfecting and sanitizing business in Central New Jersey called Electro-Ion Cleaning.
A few years ago, Insalaco came across several electro- static sprayers and thought they would make an interesting side business to his thriving tattoo shop in Asbury Park. Being a stickler for cleanliness and a nerd for cool technology, Insalaco liked the quick and efficient way the sprayers could disinfect his shop and sanitize everything in an instant. Little did he know he was about to be on the front lines of one of the fastest-growing cleaning movements of the 21st century.
In technical terms, electrostatic disinfection is the process of using an electro- static applicator or sprayer to create a positive-charge to a disinfecting solution as it passes through the nozzle. The positive-charged dis- infecting solution droplets are magnetically attracted to negatively charged surfaces – which is just about everything in the environment – so that it evenly coats, disinfects and protects every surface when sprayed. Germs, bacteria, viruses and mold naturally spread and breed in hard-to-reach areas like behind doors, under desks and on legs of tables and chairs. A positive-charged disinfectant and sanitizing solution has a natural affinity to seek and attach to any surface with a negative charge (most objects we are desperate to sanitize), and can magnetically coat and wrap around the underside and backside to disinfect and kill germs.
According to Richard Carranza, New York City school chancellor, “It’s a two-minute game- changer.” Together with Mayor Bill DeBlasio, they announced in August that all New York City public school classrooms will be electrostatically disinfected and sanitized nightly to help protect students once school resumes. Electrostatic disinfection and sanitizing with the use of the proper approved solution is capable of killing a broad spectrum of micro- organisms, such as viruses, bacteria, fungus and 140 additional emerging pathogens.
Electrostatic technology has been safely used in agriculture, manufacturing and service industries for over 50 years. It’s a simple technology that, in the time of COVID-19, seems almost futuristic. Imagine we suddenly chucked our smartphones out the window and decided that Mom’s old-fashioned rotary phone still nailed to the kitchen wall is just, well, much more effective and efficient at making calls.
According to Melanie Besculides, Ph.D., a New Jersey-based epidemiologist, “It’s exciting to see a stable, commonly known technology being used to fight a new public health threat.”
The process of disinfecting and sanitizing with an electrostatic sprayer provides a more effective disinfection and sanitized result than traditional spray bottles or even paint sprayers, foggers or hand wiping. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Electrostatic disinfection demonstrates a more uniform distribution of liquid decontaminates, and could reduce cross-contamination among field personnel and equipment, as well as minimize additional risks.”
Electrostatic disinfection uses hospital-grade, EPA-approved and registered products in the sprayers. According to Insalaco at Electro-Ion Cleaning, he only uses nontoxic disinfectants like AnaSphere Plus and Zoono products. The proper disinfectant can kill COVID-19 in under two minutes.
That’s why his phone won’t stop ringing. Insalaco, his partner Ian Ehrenberg – a perpetually optimistic serial entrepreneur – and their burgeoning staff are finding themselves in the middle of the biggest global cleaning frenzy to hit in our lifetimes. Sometimes the calls come from a chic eyelash salon, other times they might be a daycare facility, seafood restaurant, doctor’s office, a posh golf club, or even a nationally ranked university graduate school.
According to Ehrenberg, “We had a call from a country club holding a member-guest golf tournament. The club wanted to know if we could electrostatically spray the golf carts before the tournament to protect the staff and players, and as soon as the tournament was done to protect the members for the next day. We raced over and got it done and it was so cool to see the relief on the players’ faces when they got to their assigned carts.”
Germs, especially respiratory viruses, can survive for many days in high-traffic areas with risks of high contamination, including in daycares, schools, churches, airports, offices and homes. Resistant viruses and other similar pathogens are hard to eliminate using manual cleaning methods like wiping surfaces with pre-treated disinfectant wipes. With minimal pre-cleaning and the right type of disinfectant in an electrostatic sprayer, many pathogens can easily be eliminated, including those present in large open areas and on irregular surfaces.
The EPA maintains a list of disinfectants – List N – that are approved for use against COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). The products on List N are effective and efficient in neutralizing and killing COVID-19 when used the proper way. With electrostatic disinfection, any appropriate and approved EPA agent on List N can be used through the sprayer and will be effective in disinfecting surfaces and areas against COVID-19 and similar germs.
According to Insalaco and his staff at Electro-Ion Cleaning, what their clients like best is that the electrostatic spraying works on contact and does not leave any residue or ongoing microbial effect. This technology is safe for surfaces that could otherwise be damaged by residue and moisture.
One of the more positive results of this spring’s global lockdown was the impressive nonpolluted views in Venice, Italy, Los Angeles and other notoriously polluted areas. There’s a new interest in keeping the environment cleaner versus going back to the smoggy old days of yore. Electro-Ion’s Ehrenberg loves knowing that what they’re spraying is safe for the environment in addition to being effective.
“Hey, we have to eliminate potential COVID-19 concerns, but if we can keep the air clean too, it’s a complete bonus. And we do all that for pennies.”
For more information, call 732-838-3004 or visit electroioncleaning.com.
The article originally appeared in the Sept. 24 -30, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
