Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Feb:132:85-92.
doi: 10.1016/j.jhin.2022.12.009. Epub 2022 Dec 21.

Shedding a light on ultraviolet-C technologies in the hospital environment

N Demeersseman  1 , V Saegeman  1 , V Cossey  1 , H Devriese  2 , A Schuermans  3
Affiliations
Review

Shedding a light on ultraviolet-C technologies in the hospital environment

N Demeersseman et al. J Hosp Infect. 2023 Feb.

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV)-C light for disinfection has experienced a surge in popularity since the outbreak of COVID-19. Currently, many different UV-C systems, with varied properties that impact disinfection performance, are available on the market. Therefore this review aims to bundle the available information on UV-C disinfection to obtain an overview of its advantages, disadvantages, and performance-influencing parameters. A literature search was performed using the snowball search method in Google Scholar and PubMed with the following keywords: UV-C disinfection, UV-C dose, UV-C light source, UV-C repair mechanism, UV-C photoreactivation, and UV-C disinfection standards. The main parameters of UV-C disinfection are wavelength, dose, relative humidity, and temperature. There is no consensus about their optimal values, but, in general, light at a high dose and a spectrum of wavelengths containing 260 nm is preferred in an environment at room temperature with low relative humidity. This light can be generated by mercury-vapour, light-emitting diode (LED), pulsed-xenon, or excimer lamps. Multiple factors are detrimental to disinfection performance such as shadowing, a rough surface topography, a high level of contamination, repair mechanisms, and the lack of standardization. Also, there are health and safety risks associated with the UV-C technology when used in the proximity of people. UV-C disinfection systems have promising features and the potential to improve in the future. However, clarifications surrounding the different parameters influencing the technologies' effectiveness in hospital environment are needed. Therefore UV-C disinfection should currently be considered for low-level rather than high-level disinfection.

Keywords: Dose; Light source; Photoreactivation; Repair mechanism; Standards; UV-C disinfection.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Rowan N., Laffey J.G. Unlocking the surge in demand for personal and protective equipment (PPE) and improvised face coverings arising from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic – implications for efficacy, re-use and sustainable waste management. Sci Total Environ. 2021;752 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chen J.P., Yang L., Wang L.K., Zhang B. In: Advanced physicochemical treatment processes. Wang L.K., Hung Y.T., Shammas N.K., editors. vol. 4. Humana Press; Totowa, NJ: 2006. Ultraviolet radiation for disinfection; pp. 317–366. (Handbook of environmental engineering).
    1. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1903. Available at: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1903/summary/ [last accessed August 2022].
    1. Chronos, Germitec. Available at: https://germitec.com/hypernova-chronos-high-level-disinfection/ [last accessed August 2022].
    1. D60. UV Smart. Available at: https://www.uvsmart.nl/d60 [last accessed August 2022].