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The light at the end of the tunnel for the COVID-19 pandemic may just be overhead.
new study demonstrated a hands-off approach using ultraviolet light, called far UVC light, reducing the transmission of indoor airborne pathogens by more than 98% in less than five minutes, according to a recent report. statement.
“Far-UVC rapidly reduces the number of active microbes in indoor air to almost zero, making indoor air essentially as safe as outdoor air,” said co-author Dr. David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
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“Using this technology in locations where people are gathered together indoors could prevent another potential pandemic.”
Joint study by scientists at Columbia University and in the UK recommend Far-UVC lamps installed in ceiling lamps can reduce the risk of a subsequent pandemic by effectively reducing the airborne transmission of infectious diseases known to cause major outbreaks, such as COVID-19 or influenza.
But the statement notes that far-UVC is a relatively new technology.
Even though already known for many years ultraviolet C (UVC) light has germicidal properties, its use is mostly limited because it can cause sunburn, skin cancer as well as harm people’s eyes, so its use has been restricted mainly to sterilizing medical equipment, the statement said.
But nearly 10 years ago, scientists at Columbia University proposed that a different type of UVC light, far UVC light, could destroy germs as effectively as conventional UVC light without the harmful side effects, because the shorter wavelength of light doesn’t allow it to penetrate. . human skin or eye cells, according to the statement.
Studies over the last decade confirm far-UVC kills bacteria and viruses in the air without living tissue because germs are much smaller than human cells.
(iStock)
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Studies over the last decade confirmed far-UVC bacteria and viruses in the air without killing living tissue because germs are much smaller than human cells, but research to date has been done in experimental rooms that have never replicated real-world settings, according to a press release.
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The current study tested the efficacy of far UVC light in a room the size of a large indoor room that has a ventilation rate equivalent to that of a typical home or office, which is about three air changes per hour.
The researchers continuously sprayed a bacterium called Staphylococcus aureus until the concentration of the microbe stabilized, then turned on the high-UVC overhead light.
They chose this particular bacterium versus the coronavirus, because it’s a little less point to far UVC light, so the researchers were able to build a conservative model.
Kecia Harris, with the environmental services department, cleans the room of a patient battling the coronavirus at Our Lady of Angels Hospital in Bogalusa, La., Monday, August 9, 2021.
((Chris Granger / Singing Lawyer via AP))
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The study found that not only did light inactivate more than 98% of airborne bacteria in just five minutes, it was also able to keep airborne bacteria levels low over time as microbes were continuously sprayed indoors.
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Far-UVC lamps are easy to install, that is inexpensiveit is not necessary for people to change their behavior, and evidence from several studies suggests it may be a safe way to prevent transmission of any virus, including the COVID virus and its variants, as well as influenza as well as potential future pandemics. viruses,” Brenner said.
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