Disinfection effect of pulsed xenon ultraviolet irradiation on SARS-CoV-2 and implications for environmental risk of COVID-19 transmission

ABSTRACT

Prolonged survival of SARS-CoV-2 on environmental surfaces and personal protective equipment (PPE) may lead to these surfaces transmitting disease to others. This article reports the effectiveness of a pulsed xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) disinfection system in reducing the load of SARS-CoV-2 on hard surfaces and N95 respirators. Chamber slides and N95 respirator material were directly inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 and exposed to different durations of PX-UV disinfection. For hard surfaces, disinfection for 1, 2, and 5 minutes resulted in 3.53 Log10, >4.54 Log10, and >4.12 Log10 reductions in viral load, respectively. For N95 respirators, disinfection for 5 minutes resulted in >4.79 Log10 reduction in viral load. We found that PX-UV significantly reduces SARS-CoV-2 on hard surfaces and N95 respirators. With the potential to rapidly disinfectant environmental surfaces and N95 respirators, PX-UV devices are a promising technology for the reduction of environmental and PPE bioburden and to enhance both HCW and patient safety by reducing the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2.