Assessing the safety of new germicidal far ‐UVC technologies

The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the crucial importance of enhanced indoor air quality control measures to mitigate the spread of respiratory pathogens. Far-UVC has emerged as a highly promising approach for indoor air disinfection. While current evidence supports using far-UVC systems within existing guidelines, understanding the upper safety limit is critical to maximizing its effectiveness, particularly for the acute phase of a pandemic or epidemic when greater protection may be needed. This review article summarizes the substantial present knowledge on far-UVC safety regarding skin and eye exposure and highlights research priorities to discern the maximum exposure levels that avoid adverse effects. AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic underscored the crucial importance of enhanced indoor air quality control measures to mitigate the spread of respiratory pathogens. Far-UVC is a type of germicidal ultraviolet technology, with wavelengths between 200 and 235  nm, that has emerged as a highly promising approach for indoor air disinfection. Due to its enhanced safety compared to conventional 254 nm upper-room germicidal systems, far-UVC allows for whole-room direct exposure of occupied spaces, potentially offering greater efficacy, since the total roo m air is constantly treated. While current evidence supports using far-UVC systems within existing guidelines, understanding the upper safety limit is critical to maximizing its effectiveness, particularly for the acute phase of a ...

Source: Photochemistry and Photobiology - November 7, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Maximilian G örlitz, Lennart Justen, Patrick J. Rochette, Manuela Buonanno, David Welch, Norman J. Kleiman, Ewan Eadie, Sachiko Kaidzu, William J. Bradshaw, Emilia Javorsky, Nigel Cridland, Anat Galor, Martin Guttmann, Martina C. Meinke, Jo Tags: INVITED REVIEW Source Type: research