Ultraviolet light has bright future in fight against Covid-19
Ultraviolet light has bright future in fight against Covid-19
A particular type of ultraviolet light known as far-UVC could be safely used for air disinfection in public places without harming people, according to new research carried out jointly at the University of St Andrews and Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.
This research is very timely as the world looks for new ways to disinfect rooms and help eliminate the Covid-19 coronavirus.
In the research, accepted for publication in the journal Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, the St Andrews-Ninewells team used computer simulations to study the impact of far-UVC lamps on human skin and have shown the wavelengths that do not cause the kind of problems typically associated with ultraviolet light. There are three types of ultraviolet light – UVA, UVB and UVC – all of which have the potential to damage human skin.
Image courtesy of Columbia University Center for Radiological Research.
The paper was first published on 26 May 2020 and can be accessed by its DOI: doi.org/10.1111/phpp.12580.