The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred fresh interest in UV-C as a way to disinfect objects and surfaces. Signify and the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) at Boston University conducted research that demonstrates effectiveness of the company’s UV-C light sources on the inactivation of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Since the start of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, Dr. Anthony Griffiths, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine and his team have been working on developing tools to support scientific advancement in this field. During their research, they treated inoculated material with different doses of UV-C radiation and assessed the inactivation capacity under various conditions. The team applied a dose of 5mJ/cm2, resulting in a reduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus of 99% in 6 seconds.
Based on the data, it was determined that a dose of 22mJ/cm2 will result in a reduction of 99.9999% in 25 seconds.
“Our test results show that above a specific dose of UV-C radiation, viruses were completely inactivated; in a matter of seconds we could no longer detect any virus,” said Dr. Anthony Griffiths, Associate Professor of Microbiology at Boston University School of Medicine. “We’re very excited about these findings and hope that this will accelerate the development of products that can help limit the spread of COVID-19.”
“Given the potential of the technology to aid the fight against the coronavirus, Signify will not keep the technology for its exclusive use but make it available to other lighting companies,” said Eric Rondolat, CEO of Signify. “To service the growing need for disinfection we will increase our production capacity multifold in the coming months.”
Because direct UV-C exposure to humans can increase cancer risk, and even short exposures can produce burns on unprotected skin and retinal damage, UV-C energy is used to directly disinfect surfaces in unoccupied spaces.
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