ABSTRACT
Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a plethora of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection products have come to market, especially in emerging economies. UV-C–based disinfection products for mobile phones, food packaging, face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), and other everyday objects are available in popular electronic-commerce platforms as consumer products. Product designers from multinational to startup companies began to design UV-C disinfection products but had no prior-art reference, user feedback, or validation of product efficacy, which are important stages in product design. A UV-C disinfection product cannot be assessed by most consumers for its viricidal efficacy. Many firms entered the domain of UV-C products and were unaware of the necessary validation requirements. Lack of availability and access to virology laboratories, due to lockdowns in countries, and lack of standards and certification for UV-C disinfection products limited product designers and firms in benchmarking their UV-C–based devices before market release. This work evaluates two UV-C disinfection devices for viricidal efficacy on PPE fabric and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)–certified N95 respirators through controlled experiments using the H1N1 virus, which is enveloped and is transmitted via the respiratory route similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of COVID-19. The experiment also evaluated the effectiveness of chemical disinfectants along with and versus UV-C disinfection. Experiments for material selection, UV dose calculation, and UV endurance of PPE samples to be disinfected are also discussed. The outcome of this work establishes a systematic method to validate the efficacy of UV-C disinfection products. The design guidelines would benefit product designers in designing UV-C–based disinfection products.
ABSTRACT
Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a plethora of ultraviolet-C (UV-C) disinfection products have come to market, especially in emerging economies. UV-C-based disinfection products for mobile phones, food packaging, face masks and personal protective equipment (PPE), and other everyday objects are available in popular electronic-commerce platforms as consumer products. Product designers from multinational to startup companies began to design UV-C disinfection products but had no prior-art reference, user feedback, or validation of product efficacy, which are important stages in product design. A UV-C disinfection product cannot be assessed by most consumers for its viricidal efficacy. Many firms entered the domain of UV-C products and were unaware of the necessary validation requirements. Lack of availability and access to virology laboratories, due to lockdowns in countries, and lack of standards and certification for UV-C disinfection products limited product designers and firms in benchmarking their UV-C-based devices before market release. This work evaluates two UV-C disinfection devices for viricidal efficacy on PPE fabric and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-certified N95 respirators through controlled experiments using the H1N1 virus, which is enveloped and is transmitted via the respiratory route similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the cause of COVID-19. The experiment also evaluated the effectiveness of chemical disinfectants along with and versus UV-C disinfection. Experiments for material selection, UV dose calculation, and UV endurance of PPE samples to be disinfected are also discussed. The outcome of this work establishes a systematic method to validate the efficacy of UV-C disinfection products. The design guidelines would benefit product designers in designing UV-C-based disinfection products.
ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, appears as a major pandemic having adverse impact on public health and economic activities. Since viral replication in human enterocytes results in its faecal shedding, wastewater surveillance is an ideal, non-invasive, cost-effective and an early warning epidemiological approach to detect the genetic material of SARS-CoV-2. Here, we review techniques for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in municipal wastewater, and disinfectants used to control viral spread. For detection, concentration of ribonucleic acid involves ultrafiltration, ultracentrifugation and polyethylene glycol precipitation. Identification is done by reverse transcriptase amplification, nucleic acid sequence-based amplification, helicase dependent amplification, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, recombinase polymerase amplification, high throughput screening and biosensor assays. Disinfectants include ultraviolet radiations, ozone, chlorine dioxide, hypochlorites and hydrogen peroxide. Wastewater surveillance data indicates viral presence within longer detection window, and provides transmission dynamics earlier than classical methods. This is particularly relevant for pre-symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 cases.