tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Sci Rep
. 2020 Jun 24;10(1):10285.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67211-2.
Far-UVC Light (222 Nm) Efficiently and Safely Inactivates Airborne Human Coronaviruses
Manuela Buonanno[SUP] 1 [/SUP], David Welch[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Igor Shuryak[SUP] 1 [/SUP], David J Brenner[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
A direct approach to limit airborne viral transmissions is to inactivate them within a short time of their production. Germicidal ultraviolet light, typically at 254 nm, is effective in this context but, used directly, can be a health hazard to skin and eyes. By contrast, far-UVC light (207-222 nm) efficiently kills pathogens potentially without harm to exposed human tissues. We previously demonstrated that 222-nm far-UVC light efficiently kills airborne influenza virus and we extend those studies to explore far-UVC efficacy against airborne human coronaviruses alpha HCoV-229E and beta HCoV-OC43. Low doses of 1.7 and 1.2 mJ/cm[SUP]2[/SUP] inactivated 99.9% of aerosolized coronavirus 229E and OC43, respectively. As all human coronaviruses have similar genomic sizes, far-UVC light would be expected to show similar inactivation efficiency against other human coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2. Based on the beta-HCoV-OC43 results, continuous far-UVC exposure in occupied public locations at the current regulatory exposure limit (~3 mJ/cm[SUP]2[/SUP]/hour) would result in ~90% viral inactivation in ~8 minutes, 95% in ~11 minutes, 99% in ~16 minutes and 99.9% inactivation in ~25 minutes. Thus while staying within current regulatory dose limits, low-dose-rate far-UVC exposure can potentially safely provide a major reduction in the ambient level of airborne coronaviruses in occupied public locations.
. 2020 Jun 24;10(1):10285.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67211-2.
Far-UVC Light (222 Nm) Efficiently and Safely Inactivates Airborne Human Coronaviruses
Manuela Buonanno[SUP] 1 [/SUP], David Welch[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Igor Shuryak[SUP] 1 [/SUP], David J Brenner[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32581288
- DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67211-2
Abstract
A direct approach to limit airborne viral transmissions is to inactivate them within a short time of their production. Germicidal ultraviolet light, typically at 254 nm, is effective in this context but, used directly, can be a health hazard to skin and eyes. By contrast, far-UVC light (207-222 nm) efficiently kills pathogens potentially without harm to exposed human tissues. We previously demonstrated that 222-nm far-UVC light efficiently kills airborne influenza virus and we extend those studies to explore far-UVC efficacy against airborne human coronaviruses alpha HCoV-229E and beta HCoV-OC43. Low doses of 1.7 and 1.2 mJ/cm[SUP]2[/SUP] inactivated 99.9% of aerosolized coronavirus 229E and OC43, respectively. As all human coronaviruses have similar genomic sizes, far-UVC light would be expected to show similar inactivation efficiency against other human coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2. Based on the beta-HCoV-OC43 results, continuous far-UVC exposure in occupied public locations at the current regulatory exposure limit (~3 mJ/cm[SUP]2[/SUP]/hour) would result in ~90% viral inactivation in ~8 minutes, 95% in ~11 minutes, 99% in ~16 minutes and 99.9% inactivation in ~25 minutes. Thus while staying within current regulatory dose limits, low-dose-rate far-UVC exposure can potentially safely provide a major reduction in the ambient level of airborne coronaviruses in occupied public locations.