Ultraviolet light with Far-UVC technology can reduce the level of airborne pathogens in a room, according to a new study by researchers in the UK and US by over 92%.
The findings suggest that lamps operating at this wavelength can be used to combat present and future airborne organisms. Including SARS-CoV-2, and thus prevent the spread of diseases such as COVID-19.
The research is detailed in Scientific Reports (and I link it here).
Far-UVC, ultraviolet without problems
Regular UVC light is very effective at destroying pathogens such as bacteria and viruses, but it is dangerous for humans because it can damage the skin and eyes.
A decade ago, researchers at Columbia University in the US discovered that a different wavelength of UVC light, known as Far-UVC, is equally effective at killing germs, but without any safety concerns. This is because, at 222 nm, its wavelength is too short to penetrate human skin or eye cells.
The first tests of the technology were, however, conducted in small experimental chambers, and not in rooms the size of a room, more corresponding to a real scenario.
The new tests
In this new study, scientists from English and American universities tested the efficiency of ad lamps excimer of krypton chloride (KCl) Far-UVC in a realistic scenario designed in Leeds. The room was ventilated at the same rate as a typical home, with approximately three air changes per hour. A “pathogenic load” of aerosolized bacteria was then continuously released into the room S. aureus. After an hour the research team began sampling the area.
After an initial monitoring, the switching on of the Far-UVC lamps on the ceiling and another one-hour monitoring made it possible to compare the air samples before and after the special lighting.
Results? “Spectacular”
The team found that the lamps have reduced by 92% the load of pathogens. A result equivalent to that obtained by doing 35 air changes per hour. “It's a far better result than other technologies,” he says Kenneth Wood, researcher at the St Andrews School of Physics and Astronomy. “It is also the first time that the effect of Far-UVC has been tested in a realistic scenario.”
Wood states bluntly that the tests produced "spectacular results", far superior to those of ventilation alone. “In terms of preventing airborne disease transmission, Far-UVC light could make indoor locations as safe as golf courses on a breezy day,” he says.
Far-UVC to bring down Covid (and the next pandemics)
david brenner, team member driving the Columbia University Center for Radiological Research, states that Far-UVC light will be equally effective in inactivating current and future variants of SARS-CoV-2. Not only that: also "old viruses" such as influenza and measles, and upcoming viruses that have not yet emerged.
In other words? Far-UVC technology can make us live in closed places with the same healthiness (in terms of pathogens, I mean) as open and ventilated ones. Little, very little chance of contagion and better air and health quality.
The next steps? Evaluate the effectiveness and speed of viral inactivation also on other pathogens, and then we will move on to a real environment with people.
For once, even the lamp has the dignity of the Genius.