Disinfection of SARS-CoV-2 using UVC reveals wavelength sensitivity contributes towards rapid virucidal activity

  1. Richard M. Mariita
  2. Amy C. Wilson Miller
  3. Rajul V. Randive
  4. Lindsay G. A. McKay
  5. Nadia Storm
  6. Anthony Griffiths

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Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 can be disinfected using ultraviolet-C (UVC) light. For effective inactivation strategies, design and implementation, knowledge of UVC wavelength sensitivity, and disinfection rate of the relevant pathogen are required. This study aimed to determine the inactivation profile of SARS-CoV-2 using UVC irradiation with different wavelengths. Specifically, the study determined dosage, inactivation levels, and wavelength sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2. Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 (isolate USA/WA1-2020) inactivation at peak wavelengths of 259, 268, 270, 275 and 280 nm was performed using a plaque assay method. A UVC dose of 3.1 mJ/cm 2 using 259 and 268 nm arrays yielded log reduction values (LRV) of 2.32 and 2.44, respectively. With a dose of 5 mJ/cm 2 , arrays of peak wavelengths at 259 and 268 nm obtained similar inactivation levels (LRV 2.97 and 2.80 respectively). The arrays of longer wavelength (270, 275 and 280 nm), demonstrated lower performances (≤LRV 2.0) when applying an irradiation dose of 5 mJ/cm 2 . Additional study with the 268 nm array revealed that a dose of 6.25 mJ/cm 2 is enough to obtain a LRV of 3. These results suggest that 259 and 268 nm are the most efficient wavelengths for SARS-CoV-2 inactivation compared to longer UVC wavelengths, allowing the calculation of disinfection systems efficacy.

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  1. Version published to 10.1101/2021.06.30.21259769v2 on medRxiv
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    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.06.30.21259769: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Ethicsnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    Results from OddPub: Thank you for sharing your data.

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.06.30.21259769v1 on medRxiv