Pulsed-Xenon Ultraviolet Light Highly Inactivates Human Coronaviruses on Solid Surfaces, Particularly SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

In the context of ongoing and future pandemics, non-pharmaceutical interventions are critical in reducing viral infections and the emergence of new antigenic variants while the population reaches immunity to limit viral transmission. This study provides information on efficient and fast methods of disinfecting surfaces contaminated with different human coronaviruses (CoVs) in healthcare settings. The ability to disinfect three different human coronaviruses (HCoV-229E, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2) on dried surfaces with light was determined for a fully characterized pulsed-xenon ultraviolet (PX-UV) source. Thereafter, the effectiveness of this treatment to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 was compared to that of conventional low-pressure mercury UVC lamps by using equivalent irradiances of UVC wavelengths. Under the experimental conditions of this research, PX-UV light completely inactivated the CoVs tested on solid surfaces since the infectivity of the three CoVs was reduced up to 4 orders of magnitude by PX-UV irradiation, with a cumulated dose of as much as 21.162 mJ/cm2 when considering all UV wavelengths (5.402 mJ/cm2 of just UVC light). Furthermore, continuous irradiation with UVC light was less efficient in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 than treatment with PX-UV light. Therefore, PX-UV light postulates as a promising decontamination measure to tackle the propagation of future outbreaks of CoVs.