Evaluation of the degradation of materials by exposure to germicide UV-C light through colorimetry, tensile strength and surface microstructure analyses

Mitxelena-Iribarren, Oihane; Mondragon, Beñat; Pérez-Lorenzo, E.; Smerdou, Cristian; Guillén-Grima, Francisco; Sierra-García, J. Enrique; Rodriguez-Merino, Fernando; Arana, Sergio

doi:10.1016/j.mtcomm.2022.103690

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…ozone and the gas phase hydroxyl (OH) radical. Both photolysis of, and radical reactions with, volatile gases and compounds emitted from surface materials , can form new compounds, with different properties concerning e.g. toxicity or volatility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unwanted Indoor Air Quality Effects from Using Ultraviolet C Lamps for Disinfection

Graeffe

Luo

Guo

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is known to inactivate various viruses and bacteria, including SARS-CoV-2, and is widely applied especially in medical facilities. This inactivation results from the high photon energies causing molecular bonds to break, but when nonpathogen molecules are affected, unwanted effects may occur. Here, we explored the effect of a commercial high-intensity (∼2 kW) UVC disinfection device on the composition and concentration of gases and particles in indoor air. We find that the UVC (254 nm) caused dramatic increases in particle number concentrations, and nearly all (∼1000) monitored gas phase species also increased. These responses were unsurprising when considering the typical impacts of UVC on atmospheric chemistry. High particle concentrations are associated with adverse health effects, suggesting that the impact of UVGI devices on indoor air quality (IAQ) should be studied in much more detail. The high-intensity device in this study was intended for short durations in unoccupied rooms, but lower-intensity devices for continuous use in occupied rooms are also widely applied. This makes further studies even more urgent, as the potential IAQ effects of these approaches remain largely unexplored.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unwanted Indoor Air Quality Effects from Using Ultraviolet C Lamps for Disinfection

Graeffe

Luo

Guo

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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“…Another obstacle to UVC use in disinfection is the long-term modifications of the UVC-treated surfaces. Indeed, repeated radiation treatments can have an influence on surfaces colors and microstructures through years of disinfection cycles [39]. While these effects do not compromise wheelchair integrity nor UVC treatment effectiveness, it would be interesting if further studies focused on surfaces that underwent numerous disinfection cycles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

UVC Box: An Effective Way to Quickly Decontaminate Healthcare Facilities’ Wheelchairs

Adam,

Colin,

Stock

et al. 2024

Life

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Disinfection in the hospital environment remains challenging, especially for wide and structurally complex objects such as beds or wheelchairs. Indeed, the regular disinfection of these objects with chemicals is manually carried out by healthcare workers and is fastidious and time-consuming. Alternative antibacterial techniques were thus proposed in the past decades, including the use of naturally antimicrobial UVC. Here, the antibacterial efficiency of a large UVC box built to accommodate wheelchairs was investigated through testing bacterial burden reductions on various parts of a wheelchair, with various support types and with several treatment durations. The results demonstrate a time-dependent antibacterial effect, with a strong burden reduction at only five minutes of treatment (>3-log median reduction in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis). The UVC flux and residual bacterial burden both significantly varied depending on the spatial location on the wheelchair. However, the nature of the support impacted the antibacterial efficiency even more, with residual bacterial burdens being the lowest on rigid materials (steel, plastics) and being the highest on tissue. On metallic samples, the nature of the alloy and surface treatment had various impacts on the antibacterial efficiency of the UVC. This study highlights the efficiency of the tested UVC box to efficiently and quickly decontaminate complex objects such as wheelchairs, but also gives rise to the warning to focus on rigid materials and avoid porous materials in the conception of objects, so as to ensure the efficiency of UVC decontamination.

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“…On the one hand, it is vital to guarantee a good coverage to ensure all surfaces receive the required dose for disinfection. On the other hand, the radiation must not be too high to prevent premature degradation of the furniture and other items [5] . This is even more crucial in healthcare and hospital environments, where very high-accuracy electronic instruments are present and damage to them must be avoided at all costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Glasius bio-inspired neural networks based UV-C disinfection path planning improved by preventive deadlock processing algorithm

Rodrigo

Sierra-García

Santos

2023

Advances in Engineering Software

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Evaluation of the degradation of materials by exposure to germicide UV-C light through colorimetry, tensile strength and surface microstructure analyses

Cited by 5 publications

References 32 publications

Unwanted Indoor Air Quality Effects from Using Ultraviolet C Lamps for Disinfection

Unwanted Indoor Air Quality Effects from Using Ultraviolet C Lamps for Disinfection

UVC Box: An Effective Way to Quickly Decontaminate Healthcare Facilities’ Wheelchairs

Glasius bio-inspired neural networks based UV-C disinfection path planning improved by preventive deadlock processing algorithm

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