A UV-LED module that is highly effective at inactivating human coronaviruses and HIV-1

Arvin T Persaud; Jonathan Burnie; Laxshaginee Thaya; Liann DSouza; Steven Martin; Christina Guzzo

doi:10.1186/s12985-022-01754-w

A UV-LED module that is highly effective at inactivating human coronaviruses and HIV-1

Virol J. 2022 Feb 10;19(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s12985-022-01754-w.

Authors

Arvin T Persaud^#^{1

2}, Jonathan Burnie^#^{1

2}, Laxshaginee Thaya^{1

2}, Liann DSouza³, Steven Martin³, Christina Guzzo^{4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Room SW560, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada.
² Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G5, Canada.
³ Safe Antiviral Technologies Inc, 822 Manning Ave, Toronto, ON, M6G 2W8, Canada.
⁴ Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Room SW560, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada. christina.guzzo@utoronto.ca.
⁵ Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Harbord Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G5, Canada. christina.guzzo@utoronto.ca.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) light has previously been established as useful method of disinfection, with demonstrated efficacy to inactivate a broad range of microorganisms. The advent of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes provides advantages in ease of disinfection, in that there can be delivery of germicidal UV with the same light unit that delivers standard white light to illuminate a room. Herein we demonstrate the efficacy and feasibility of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes as a means of decontamination by inactivating two distinct virus models, human coronavirus 229E and human immunodeficiency virus. Importantly, the same dose of ultraviolet light that inactivated human viruses also elicited complete inactivation of ultraviolet-resistant bacterial spores (Bacillus pumilus), a gold standard for demonstrating ultraviolet-mediated disinfection. This work demonstrates that seconds of ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UV-LED) exposure can inactivate viruses and bacteria, highlighting that UV-LED could be a useful and practical tool for broad sanitization of public spaces.

Keywords: Bacillus pumilus; Human coronavirus (hCoV); Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); Light emitting diode (LED); UV disinfection; UV sanitization; Ultraviolet light (UV); Virus inactivation.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Coronavirus 229E, Human* / radiation effects
Disinfection* / methods
HIV-1* / radiation effects
Humans
Ultraviolet Rays*
Virus Inactivation / radiation effects*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding