1. Social Media Article: The Potential Hazards in Medical/Dental/Pharma/University Lab Compressed Air
Systems
Target Audience: Service & Maintenance Technicians in Hospitals, Medical and Dental
Laboratories, Universities and Other Teaching Facilities
Title: The air you control might be dirtier than you think!
Date: December 21, 2015
Unbelievable but these are recent photos of rust/scale inside an oil-lubricated air compressor in a major
Canadian hospital.
Contaminants can be a huge problem for you, depending on your industry and your application.
Contaminants fall into four general categories – particles (from pipe scale, wear and atmospheric dirt);
water (either liquid, vapour or aerosol); oil (either liquid, vapour or aerosol); and micro-organisms.
 In all cases, your equipment can fail, damaged by these contaminants
 In the pharmaceutical industry products can be rejected because purity has been compromised
 In some health environments, you can have bad breathing air, due to bacteria forming in water
droplets within your system.
How does this happen? There are two types of air compressors – oil-lubricated and oil-free. Many
modern facilities are built with oil-free compressors, along with piping and fittings made from
contaminant-resistant materials like stainless steel, aluminum or copper; but even those can let
miniscule oil droplets from the environment pass through.
Older structures are typically serviced with oil-lubricated compressors, many with galvanized steel
pipelines that are not resistant to moisture. With heat and other contaminants that have built up over
time, the oil used in these compressors actually turns acidic. Imagine that acid reaching your mouth?
Prevention = FIND and FIX!
Every air application requires a different level of air quality and a different combination of air treatment
to meet that quality. It’s a daunting task, particularly because there is no mandated standards in place

2. that every process must adhere to. The good news, however, is that The International Standards
Organization (ISO) has developed a reference guide – ISO 8573-1:2010 that provides a purity class
structure as a global common language, that all parties can use – from the end user, service distributor,
and compressor manufacturer to the filter manufacturer and the testing laboratory.
1. Identify the purity class you need for your application by using ISO 8573-1
2. Test your air quality to ensure you are meeting the need, using air from different points of use
3. Follow up with a filtration expert who can guide you on how to fix or improve your air quality
4. Monitor your system on a continuous and consistent basis
If you’re not sure what to do or how to do it, talk to me. I can help you determine the ISO class you
need, where to look for problems, and how to test. Most importantly, I can help you properly size your
equipment needs based on your ambient conditions and application, and select the right combination
of components to meet your air quality needs,
Behnood Pakbaz -Sandra Murphy