@article{95d9ae9221bb4f9ca292e9bc4900e933,
title = "Far-UVC (222 nm) efficiently inactivates an airborne pathogen in a room-sized chamber",
abstract = "Many infectious diseases, including COVID-19, are transmitted by airborne pathogens. There is a need for effective environmental control measures which, ideally, are not reliant on human behaviour. One potential solution is Krypton Chloride (KrCl) excimer lamps (often referred to as Far-UVC), which can efficiently inactivate pathogens, such as coronaviruses and influenza, in air. Research demonstrates that when KrCl lamps are filtered to remove longer-wavelength ultraviolet emissions they do not induce acute reactions in the skin or eyes, nor delayed effects such as skin cancer. While there is laboratory evidence for Far-UVC efficacy, there is limited evidence in full-sized rooms. For the first time, we show that Far-UVC deployed in a room-sized chamber effectively inactivates aerosolised Staphylococcus aureus. At a room ventilation rate of 3 air-changes-per-hour (ACH), with 5 filtered-sources the steady-state pathogen load was reduced by 98.4% providing an additional 184 equivalent air changes (eACH). This reduction was achieved using Far-UVC irradiances consistent with current American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists threshold limit values for skin for a continuous 8-h exposure. Our data indicate that Far-UVC is likely to be more effective against common airborne viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, than bacteria and should thus be an effective and {"}hands-off{"} technology to reduce airborne disease transmission. The findings provide room-scale data to support the design and development of effective Far-UVC systems.",
keywords = "Air microbiology, Antimicrobials, Bacteria, Civil engineering, Influenza virus, Lasers, LEDs and light sources, Pathogens, Public health, Tuberculosis, Viral infection",
author = "Ewan Eadie and Waseem Hiwar and Louise Fletcher and Emma Tidswell and Paul O'Mahoney and Manuela Buonanno and David Welch and Adamson, {Catherine S.} and Brenner, {David J.} and Catherine Noakes and Kenneth Wood",
note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank all the manufacturers who have loaned or gifted us Far-UVC lamps. These contributions have been made without any interference or influence on the research undertaken and without financial contribution. We acknowledge the financial assistance of the United Kingdom{\textquoteright}s Department for Health and Social Care (2020/092). We also acknowledge the assistance of Camilo Penaloza for the 3D image used in Figure b and Andrew Collier Cameron and Keith Horne for discussions on data analysis. Funding Information: EE, WH, LF, ET, PO{\textquoteright}M, CA and KW declare no competing interests. DJB and other coinventors have a granted US patent entitled {\textquoteleft}Apparatus, method and system for selectively affecting and/or killing a virus{\textquoteright} (US10780189B2). Columbia University (the parent institution of DJB, DW and MB) has licensed aspects of filtered UV light technology to USHIO Inc, and has received a research gift from LumenLabs, a company producing Far-UVC sources. CN has received funding from EPSRC, HM government and the Department for Health and Social Care for projects on COVID-19 transmission and mitigation, and she is a member of the UK government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and multiple working groups through which she has advised across UK government departments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s).",
year = "2022",
month = mar,
day = "23",
doi = "10.1038/s41598-022-08462-z",
language = "English",
volume = "12",
journal = "Scientific Reports",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
}
