Inactivate viruses with 222nm far-UVC

[lumen aeternum]

Do they make such LEDs? Have to make sure the flux is sufficient over the area covered.

https://www.genengnews.com/topics/t...-for-humans-but-bad-for-bacteria-and-viruses/

[h=1]UV Light That Is Safe for Humans but Bad for Bacteria and Viruses[/h]snip
The research team found that continuous low doses of far ultraviolet C (far-UVC) light can kill airborne flu viruses without harming human tissues. The findings from the new study—published today in Scientific Reports in an article entitled "Far-UVC Light: A New Tool to Control the Spread of Airborne-Mediated Microbial Diseases"—suggests that use of overhead far-UVC light in hospitals, doctors' offices, schools, airports, airplanes, and other public spaces could provide a powerful check on seasonal influenza epidemics, as well as influenza pandemics.
snip

In this study, aerosolized H1N1 virus—a common strain of flu virus—was released into a test chamber and exposed to very low doses of 222-nm far-UVC light. A control group of aerosolized virus was not exposed to the UVC light. The far-UVC light efficiently inactivated the flu viruses, with about the same efficiency as conventional germicidal UV light.


"We show for the first time that far-UVC efficiently inactivates airborne aerosolized viruses, with a very low dose of 2 mJ/cm2​ of 222-nm light inactivating >95% of aerosolized H1N1 influenza virus," the authors wrote. "Continuous very low dose-rate far-UVC light in indoor public locations is a promising, safe and inexpensive tool to reduce the spread of airborne-mediated microbial diseases."


At a price of less than $1000 per lamp—a cost that would surely decrease if the lamps were mass produced—far-UVC lights are relatively inexpensive.

 

[ftumch33]

I was just looking into UV flashlights for killing virus` and had read UV-C is what is effective at killing all sorts of things. Funny thing is the day after looking it up online, Astrolux is testing UVC in their S43 light to see if it is indeed effective.

 

[lightfooted]

The correct term is deactivate. I have read somewhere about blue light being highly effective at deactivating bacteria and stuff as well, not just UV light.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

From what I understand, UV-C doesn't penetrate the outer dead layer of skin, which is why it is safe for humans but bad for bacteria and viruses. However, it is very nasty on the cornea of your eyes. Do not sit around in a room with a UV-C light. It will scratch up your cornea and leave you in a lot of pain for a few days. You'll probably recover from it, but it's bad.

 

[lightfooted]

It doesn't have to penetrate your skin very far to do damage. It kills exposed living cells almost instantly. While your body can cope with the damage, if you repeatedly expose the same area it will cause problems and eventually might result in cancer.

 

[alternety]

A couple of points posted above are not accurate.

The specific wavelength is 222 nm. Neither higher or lower. It MUST be a very narrow beam. There are significant filtering layers inside the lamps that filter out all the extraneous slop around the target wavelength.

A great deal of testing has shown that the emission at 222 nm will not harm flesh. And that includes use that reaches the eyes.

The lamps can be used for whole room irradiation. The radiation kills a rather wide range of unwanted creepy crawlies. I do not believe you can get any usable emitter into a flashlight. The equipment is too large (high voltage power supply, AC source, and 222 nm specific discharge lamps). If you can find a small lamp, maybe you can get somewhere.

I have been watching for several years to get my hands on the lamps. They are fairly simple and need a small high voltage power supply for operation. The pictures I have seen appear to be quite low cost.

Research from Columbia University, a plasma developer, and USHIO in Japan seem to be the major innovators that I have seen.

Currently (I stopped here for this post) I am trying for find a way to buy the lamps. Preferably with at least a sample of the small power supply. It appears that they are not particularly happy to allow civilians buy the parts for experimentation. Everything I see tends to be fluff from the manufacturer. Pricing is all "call your representative". So far I have not found a source for civilians.

If anyone knows where to obtain the necessary parts - please post here with info.

Here is a PDF from the creators. https://www.ushio.com/product/care2...Q2JU5GQbH9FhnhAGlI8bLBmXO4DqpPs9rsC0OfGVssw6k

 

[fanbelted]

I've been very interested in this topic for the past 3 months and have done a lot of reading about it. From my understanding, there is a difference between UVC and far-UVC. Far-UVC includes wavelengths in the range 200-222nm and as everyone has been saying, kills surface pathogens but does not penetrate the dead cell layer of human skin or the film of tears coating the eye. It is therefore completely harmless to humans, no matter how long you are exposed to it. On the other hand, plain old UVC consists of wavelengths 254nm and longer. This wavelength CAN penetrate skin and cause cancer. So I am very disturbed to see people saying they want a UVC flashlight. What you really want is a FAR UVC flashlight. From my understanding, short wavelengths are difficult to create with an LED. This is why blue LED's took so long to get on the market. I would be surprised if LED's are available in the far-UVC frequencies, but I hope to to be wrong