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. 2022 Aug 2;12(1):13260.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-17663-5.

Immersive ultraviolet disinfection of E. coli and MS2 phage on woven cotton textiles

Sean A MacIsaac  1 , Toni J Mullin  1 , Sebastian Munoz  1 , C Carolina Ontiveros  1 , Graham A Gagnon  2
Affiliations

Immersive ultraviolet disinfection of E. coli and MS2 phage on woven cotton textiles

Sean A MacIsaac et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Immersive ultraviolet disinfection provides a chemical-free technology for safer textiles, surfaces, and public spaces by inactivating communicable pathogens. This study examined immersive UV disinfection, using a disinfection cabinet, of E. coli and MS2 that was inoculated on white cotton T-shirts. The impact that porous materials have on UV disinfection is poorly understood with the majority of previous surface disinfection research focusing on hard, smooth surfaces. Several approaches were used in this study to characterize the light dynamics within the disinfection cabinet including colorimetric dosimetry coupons, biodosimetry, and spectroradiometry. Micro and macro geometry of porous surfaces are important factors to consider when using immersive UV technologies. The geometry of the cabinet impacted the distribution of emitted UV light within the disinfection cabinet and the physical properties of a porous material, such as the woven pattern of cotton, both contribute to UV disinfection efficiency. This work identified that light distribution is crucial for immersive UV technologies as the delivered fluence was highly variable within the disinfection cabinet and resulted in a difference of several logs of reduction for adjacent areas of T-shirt samples. Other inoculated areas achieved upwards of 1-log reductions values for MS2 and upwards of 2-log reductions for E. coli.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors also declare that the disinfection cabinet used in this study was supplied by Energy Management Consultants LLC (EMC). The authors declare no potential conflict of interests for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
T-shirt inoculation regions for MS2 and E. coli. RS and RA refer to the Right Sleeve and Right Armpit; LS and LA refer to Left Sleeve and Left Armpit; F1, F2, and F3 refer to Front 1, 2, and 3.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Positional indexing for hanging T-shirts within the UV-C disinfection cabinet.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Internal layout of dosimetry coupons within the UV-C cabinet.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Orientation of spectroradiometer for irradiance measurements.
Figure 5
Figure 5
UV-C light penetration through different T-shirt cotton layers. L1 = one layer; L2 = two combined layers (n = 30).
Figure 6
Figure 6
MS2 LRV for each inoculation location on hanging T-shirts (n = 3). RS and RA refer to the). Right Side (RS) and Right Arm (RA); Left Sleeve (LS) and Left Armpit (LA); Front 1,2,3 (F1, F2, and F3).
Figure 7
Figure 7
E. coli LRV for each inoculation location on hanging T-shirts (n = 3). Right Side (RS) and Right Arm (RA); Left Sleeve (LS) and Left Armpit (LA); Front 1,2,3 (F1, F2, and F3).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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