Uvc light for home6/14/2023 In this study, far-UVC lamps produced the equivalent of 184 equivalent air exchanges per hour. The efficacy of different approaches to reducing indoor virus levels is usually measured in terms of equivalent air changes per hour. The low level of viable microbes was maintained over time, even though microbes continued to be sprayed into the room. The lamps inactivated more than 98% of the airborne microbes in just five minutes. (This microbe was chosen because it is slightly less sensitive to far-UVC light than coronaviruses, providing the researchers with an appropriately conservative model.) When the concentration of microbes in the room stabilized, the researchers turned on commercially available overhead far-UVC lamps. Andrews, University of Dundee, University of Leeds, and Columbia University tested the efficacy of far-UVC light in a large room-sized chamber with the same ventilation rate as a typical home or office (about three air changes per hour).ĭuring the experiment, a sprayer continuously emitted an aerosol mist of S. In the current study, scientists at the University of St. New study shows far-UVC is highly effective in real room environment But until now these studies had only been conducted in small experimental chambers, not in full-sized rooms mimicking real-world conditions. In the past decade, many studies have also shown that far-UVC is efficient at destroying airborne bacteria and viruses, which are much smaller than human cells. Far-UVC Light May Be Safe for Indoor UseĬolumbia University Irving Medical CenterĪbout a decade ago, Columbia University scientists proposed that a different type of UVC light, known as far-UVC light, would be just as efficient at destroying bacteria and viruses but without the safety concerns of conventional germicidal UVC.įar-UVC light has a shorter wavelength than conventional germicidal UVC, and several studies from around the world suggest it is unable to penetrate into skin cells or eye cells. “Far-UVC light is simple to install, it’s inexpensive, it doesn’t need people to change their behavior, and evidence from multiple studies suggests it may be a safe way to prevent the transmission of any virus, including the COVID virus and its variants, as well as influenza and also any potential future pandemic viruses,” Brenner says. The study was published March 23 in the journal Scientific Reports, a Nature journal. “Using this technology in locations where people gather together indoors could prevent the next potential pandemic.” “Far-UVC rapidly reduces the amount of active microbes in the indoor air to almost zero, making indoor air essentially as safe as outdoor air,” says David Brenner, PhD, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and co-author of the study. The study suggests that far-UVC light from lamps installed in the ceiling could be a highly effective passive technology for reducing person-to-person transmission of airborne-mediated diseases such as COVID and influenza indoors, and lowering the risk of the next pandemic. Even as microbes continued to be sprayed into the room, the level remained very low as long as the lights were on. A new type of ultraviolet light that may be safe for people took less than five minutes to reduce the level of indoor airborne microbes by more than 98%, a joint study by scientists at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and in the U.K.
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