Hiwar, W. orcid.org/0000-0003-3742-3456, Adamson, C.S., Brenner, D.J. et al. (7 more authors) (2025) Experimental analysis to quantify inactivation of microorganisms by Far-UVC irradiation in indoor environments. Building and Environment, 274. 112734. ISSN 0360-1323
Abstract
Far-UVC irradiation at a 222 nm wavelength is a promising technology for inactivating microorganisms in indoor environments to mitigate transmission of infection. Here we report experimental measurements in a room-scale chamber to evaluate the performance of filtered Krypton-Chloride (KrCl) lamps in reducing the steady-state concentration of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa under different ventilation rates in indoor environments. The results showed a mean 95.5 % lowering of S. aureus load and 94.9 % of P. aeruginosa load at 3 air changes per hour (ACH) using one Far-UVC lamp and 97.8 % and >97.5 % using five lamps. At 1.5 ACH, the mean microbial reduction for S. aureus was >94.6 % and >99.5 % and at 9 ACH, it was 66.3 % and 91.9 % for 1 lamp and 5 lamps, respectively. Initial results at a shorter distance between the microbial source and collection sampling show a reduced but still substantial effect of the Far-UVC. The findings indicate that within these experimental conditions, Far-UVC can be effective at room-scale inactivation of a range of pathogens in a range of ventilation scenarios and also show promise at short-range inactivation. This research paves the way for future work to explore efficacy in real-world scenarios and to quantify usability and acceptability.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author produced version of an article published in Building and Environment, made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Airborne infection; Ventilation; Far-UVC; Bioaerosol |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Civil Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2025 12:52 |
Last Modified: | 14 Mar 2025 12:03 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.112734 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:224120 |