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222 nm far-UVC to inactivate airborne bacteria in an occupied dental clinic
David Welch1, Manuela Buonanno1, Zheng Tang1
1Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Background:
Methods for cleaning the air can play an important role in decreasing the airborne transmission of diseases. The implementation of far-ultraviolet C (UVC) fixtures emitting at 222 nm is a promising engineering control to directly inactivate airborne microbes within an occupied space.
Aim:
To examine the efficacy of a far-UVC installation in a large dental clinic containing 24 treatment chairs.
Methods:
Air samples were collected using two different methods and the number of culturable bacteria was determined for conditions with the lamps on and lamps off.
Findings:
The estimated reduction using results pooled from both air sampling methods was 39.5% (95% confidence interval: 19%, 60%). Given the 10 air changes per hour from the ventilation system, the operation of far-UVC lighting provided 6.5 additional air changes per hour for the dental clinic.
Conclusion:
These results show the efficacy of far-UVC lighting for the inactivation of airborne bacteria. Far-UVC lighting is a promising intervention technology for preventing disease transmission in a clinic.
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