Evaluation of the Effectiveness of UV-C Dose for Photoinactivation of SARS-CoV-2 in Contaminated N95 Respirator, Surgical and Cotton Fabric Masks

Authors

Patrícia Metolina
Lilian Gomes de Oliveira
Bruno Ramos
Yan de Souza Angelo
Paola Minoprio
Antonio Carlos Silva Costa Teixeira

Publication Date

11-1-2022

Journal

Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences

Abstract

As part of efforts to combat the Covid-19 pandemic and decrease the high transmissibility of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, effective inactivation strategies, such as UV-C decontamination technologies, can be reliably disseminated and well-studied. The present study investigated the susceptibility of a high viral load of SARS-CoV-2 in filtering facepiece respirators (FFR) N95, surgical mask, cotton fabric mask and N95 straps under three different doses of UV-C, applying both real-time PCR (qPCR) and plaque formation assays to quantify viral load reduction and virus infectivity, respectively. The results show that more than 95% of the amount of SARS-CoV-2 RNA could be reduced after 10 min of UV-C exposure (0.93 J cm

Keywords

Humans, SARS-CoV-2, Pandemics, Masks, N95 Respirators, COVID-19, RNA, Viral, Decontamination

Comments

Associated Data

PMID: 35864345