Virus Inactivation and Skin Safety Studies Using Far-UVC LEDs

Details

• Personal Author:
  Welch, David ; Buonanno, Manuela ; Petersen, Camryn ; Shuryak, Igor ; Filler, Thomas ; Lobo-Ploch, Neysha ; Brenner, David J.
• Description:
  Reducing airborne disease transmission is a public health goal. Far-UVC light, defined as 200-235 nm, is a promising technology to inactivate viruses within occupied spaces. This work examines state of the art far-UVC emitting LEDs, with a center emission wavelength of 233 nm, for virus inactivation efficacy and for DNA damage to skin models. The LEDs were used to expose an aerosolized surrogate of SARS-CoV2, the human coronavirus OC43, and survival results estimated a susceptibility constant of k233-aerosol = 4.0 +/- 0.2 cm2/mJ, which corresponds to a D90 of 0.58 mJ/cm2. HCoV-OC43 was also exposed after drying on a plastic or glass surface, and inactivation results estimated susceptibility values of k1_233-plastic = 6.7 +/- 3.8 cm2/mJ and k1_233-glass = 7.2 +/- 3.0 cm2/mJ which were not significantly different. For safety evaluation, human skin biopsies exposed to 100 mJ/cm2 from the 233 nm LEDs indicated only 8% of the epidermal cells were positive for DNA damage, whereas the same dose from a 254 nm lamp showed damage in 45% of epidermal cells. A radiant exposure of 100 mJ/cm2 from the 233 nm LEDs did not produce DNA double strand breaks within the skin biopsies. These tests for the safety and efficacy of a 233 nm far-UVC LED system provide support for the continued development of far-UVC LED sources.
• Subjects:
  Occupational Health Safety Skin Virus Inactivation
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Far-UVC; LEDs; Ultraviolet; Virus Inactivation Ultraviolet Radiation; Infection Control; Skin Exposure; DNA Damage; Light Waves; Viral Diseases;
• ISSN:
  0031-8655
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; New York City Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• Volume:
  102
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071161
• Citation:
  Photochem Photobiol 2026 Jan/Feb; 102(1):48-56
• Email:
  dw2600@cumc.columbia.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  Columbia University Health Sciences
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20220930
• Source Full Name:
  Photochemistry and Photobiology
• End Date:
  20260929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:103025f3957b4c1381d02843bed40eadfad034bb637ee8df90fb86e103186227ad3a94ae205932fd574ef5bd11027eb1785baf912dfb790f33990bc5163988b7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/257928/cdc_257928_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 588.67 KB ]