With the arrival and proliferation of antibiotics, use of germicidal UV began to wane. 5ĭuring the 1940s, many hospitals began utilizing UV-C energy for the control of airborne infectious diseases. In May 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended to businesses preparing to reopen following the pandemic the use of germicidal UV to reduce the likelihood of disease transmission. Early indications from ongoing studies at Columbia University and elsewhere, however, indicate that, “UV is very efficient for killing this virus.” 2,3,4 1Īlthough UV-C energy has proven effective in inactivating other coronaviruses, such as the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the 2012 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), scientists have limited information about UV-C’s impact on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. While bacteria and viruses absorb UV-C energy at different rates, no microorganism tested to date has proven resistant when subjected to an appropriate dose. At 253.7 nm (commonly referred to as “UV-C”), the UV wavelength changes the structure of DNA and RNA, the genetic code of all life forms, inhibiting the ability of cells to reproduce. Wavelengths from 100 nm to 280 nm are germicidal. UV light is a band of electromagnetic radiation classified into four wavelength ranges: vacuum UV (100 to 200 nm), UV-C (200 to 280 nm), UV-B (280 to 315 nm), and UV-A (315 to 400 nm). This article will provide engineer-level guidance for the use of UV-C light to continuously reduce and even prevent the growth of dangerous microbes in HVAC systems and the circulation of infectious pathogens in air streams. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, however, is highlighting UV-C’s potential as an effective air and surface disinfectant. Yet, despite decades of research and thousands of applications in hospital emergency and operating rooms, urgent-care centers, universities, and first-responder locations, UV-C has not been widely leveraged. AMCA Advocacy - High-Performance Air Systemsįor nearly a century, short-wave ultraviolet (UV) C (UV-C) energy-similar to sun rays-has been used to destroy airborne and surface-bound microbes, including chickenpox, measles, mumps, tuberculosis (TB), and cold viruses.
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