A new study suggests that the use of overhead far ultraviolet C (far-UVC) light may be able to kill airborne flu viruses without harming human tissue. The study was done at the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) and published last week in Scientific Reports.
For decades it has been known that broad-spectrum UVC light is able to kill bacteria and viruses by holding the molecular bonds that hold their DNA together. However, it is also a known hazard for humans, potentially causing skin cancer and cataracts.
Several years ago, the CUIMC team hypothesized that the narrower spectrum far-UVC ultraviolet light would still be able to kill microbes without damaging healthy tissue. In a former study, the team demonstrated that far-UVC light was able to kill MRSA without harming human or mouse skin.
In the current study, the team wanted to explore if far-UVC light could kill influenza virus in the air, mimicking the conditions in which people contract the disease. For the study, H1N1 virus was released into a test chamber and exposed to a low dose of 222 nm far-UVC light. A control group of aerosolized virus was not exposed to the UVC light. The group that received the far-UVC light was observed to be efficiently inactivated.
"If our results are confirmed in other settings, it follows that the use of overhead low-level far-UVC light in public locations would be a safe and efficient method for limiting the transmission and spread of airborne-mediated microbial diseases, such as influenza and tuberculosis," said study leader David J. Brenner, PhD.