Effective inactivation of Bacillus atrophaeus spores and Escherichia coli on disposable face masks using ultraviolet laser irradiation

My-Chi Thi Nguyen; Huu-Quang Nguyen; Hanbyeol Jang; Sojung Noh; Youngku Sohn; Kiju Yee; Heesoo Jung; Jeongkwon Kim

doi:10.1186/s40543-022-00332-7

Effective inactivation of Bacillus atrophaeus spores and Escherichia coli on disposable face masks using ultraviolet laser irradiation

J Anal Sci Technol. 2022;13(1):23. doi: 10.1186/s40543-022-00332-7. Epub 2022 Jun 27.

Authors

My-Chi Thi Nguyen¹, Huu-Quang Nguyen¹, Hanbyeol Jang¹, Sojung Noh¹, Youngku Sohn^{1

2}, Kiju Yee³, Heesoo Jung⁴, Jeongkwon Kim^{1

5}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Chungnam National University, 99 Daehak-Ro, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 34134 Republic of Korea.
² Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134 Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Physics and Institute of Quantum Systems, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134 Republic of Korea.
⁴ Chem-Bio Technology Center, Agency for Defense Development (ADD), Yuseong P.O. Box 35, Daejeon, 34186 Republic of Korea.
⁵ Graduate School of New Drug Discovery and Development, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134 Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Due to the widespread emergence of COVID-19, face masks have become a common tool for reducing transmission risk between people, increasing the need for sterilization methods against mask-contaminated microorganisms. In this study, we measured the efficacy of ultraviolet (UV) laser irradiation (266 nm) as a sterilization technique against Bacillus atrophaeus spores and Escherichia coli on three different types of face mask. The UV laser source demonstrated high penetration of inner mask layers, inactivating microorganisms in a short time while maintaining the particle filtration efficiency of the masks. This study demonstrates that UV laser irradiation is an efficient sterilization method for removing pathogens from face masks.

Keywords: Bacillus spores; Escherichia coli; Face masks; Laser irradiation; Sterilization; Ultraviolet.