UV-C Decontamination

摘要

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation in the UV-C waveband is considered an effective microbicidal method employed in the fight against MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), influenza, and other hospital-acquired infections. Utilized at the peak germicidal wavelength of 254 nm, UV-C is considered an effective microbicide for rapid inactivation of DNA- and RNA-based pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi, etc). With regard to pathogenic prion isoforms, where nucleic acid is absent and resistance to decontamination is expressed, UV-C remains totally unexplored in other wavelengths of possible relevance for inactivation by peptide bond photodissociation on contaminated surfaces and surgical instruments. Here it is hypothesized as a viable UV approach to the unusually stable protein-based pathogen, thus aiding in the prevention of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease by surgical transmission. UV-C is also largely underutilized outside the common context of human health and only passively by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in planetary protection protocols, with microbial reduction standards remaining largely unaltered since the Viking robotics program of the 1970s. NASA and the European Space Agency cleanroom environments in particular have experienced positive biological assay detections of bacteria native to cleanroom conditions. Therefore, the goal of this article is to discuss these 2 distinct uses of UV in the context of effective UV-C decontamination, to propose broader applications of UV irradiative practice, and to address future exploration of a newer UV approach applied to prion inactivation by further investigation of wavelengths beyond those considered only germicidal.