Battling disease with ultraviolet light
MAY 27, 2020
by Pennsylvania State University
Now and in the months to come, hospitals and commercial buildings will be tasked with sanitizing large indoor environments to prevent the transmission of viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. A new seed grant-funded study could provide the knowledge base needed to develop optical radiation products used in such large-scale sanitation processes.
William Bahnfleth, co-principal investigator and professor of architectural engineering at Penn State, is joining co-PI Suresh-Kuchipudi, clinical professor of veterinary and biomedical sciences in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, to study the ability of optical radiation to disinfect surfaces and reduce transmission of viruses.
Bahnfleth and his collaborators received approximately $90,000 in seed funds for the six-month project from Penn State's Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, College of Engineering and the Institutes of Energy and the Environment.
"Certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light have the ability to inactivate microorganisms, like fungi and viruses, by damaging their DNA or RNA so that they can no longer reproduce," Bahnfleth said. "Our research question for this project asks how well different wavelengths work to deactivate, or kill, coronaviruses like COVID-19."
More:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-disease-ultraviolet.html