Ozone Disinfection Could Allow Safe Reuse of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

AHA Publisher — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 07:00:29 +0000

Georgia Institute of Technology via Newswise– ‘A new study shows that ozone gas, a highly reactive chemical composed of three oxygen atoms, could provide a safe means for disinfecting certain types of personal protective equipment that are in high demand for shielding health care personnel from Covid-19. Conducted by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology using two pathogens similar to the novel coronavirus, the study found that ozone can inactivate viruses on items such as Tyvek gowns, polycarbonate face shields, goggles, and respirator masks without damaging them – as long as they don’t include stapled-on elastic straps. The study found that the consistency and effectiveness of the ozone treatment depended on maintaining relative humidity of at least 50% in chambers used for disinfection. “Ozone is one of the friendliest and cleanest ways of deactivating viruses and killing most any pathogen,” said M.G. Finn, chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who led the study. “It does not leave a residue; it’s easy to generate from atmospheric air, and it’s easy to use from an equipment perspective.” Findings of the research are described in a paper posted to the medRxiv preprint server and will be submitted to a journal for peer review and publication. Ozone can be produced with inexpensive equipment by exposing oxygen in the atmosphere to ultraviolet light, or through an electrical discharge such as a spark. During local and regional peaks in coronavirus infection, shortages of PPE can force hospitals and other health care facilities to reuse PPE that was intended for a single use. Health care facilities have used ultraviolet light, vaporized hydrogen peroxide, heat, alcohol and other techniques to disinfect these items, but until recently, there had not been much interest in ozone disinfection for PPE, said Finn, who also holds the James A. Carlos Family Chair for Pediatric Technology. Ozone is widely used for disinfecting wastewater, purifying drinking water, sanitizing food items, and disinfecting certain types of equipment – even clothing. Ozone disinfection cabinets are commercially available, taking advantage of the oxidizing effects of the gas to kill bacteria and inactivate viruses. “There was no reason to think it wouldn’t work, but we could find no examples of testing done on a variety of personal protective equipment,” Finn said. “We wanted to contribute to meeting the needs of hospitals and other healthcare organizations to show that this technique could work against pathogens similar to the coronavirus.” Phil Santangelo, a virologist in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, recommended two respiratory viruses – influenza A and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – as surrogates for coronavirus. The two are known as “enveloped” viruses because, like coronavirus, they are surrounded by a lipid outer membrane. Influenza and RSV are less dangerous than the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, allowing the Georgia Tech researchers to study them without high-containment laboratory facilities. Santangelo, Finn, and their team devised a test procedure in which solutions containing the two viruses were placed onto samples of the PPE materials under study. The solutions were allowed to dry before the samples were placed in a chamber into which ozone was introduced at varying concentrations as low as 20 parts-per-million. After treatment for different lengths of time, the researchers tested the PPE samples to determine whether or not any of the viruses on the treated surfaces could infect cells grown in the laboratory. The entire test procedure required about a day and a half. “The protocol we set up reports very sensitively on whether or not the virus could reproduce, and we found that the ozone was very successful in rendering them harmless,” Finn said. “Oxidizing biological samples to a significant extent is enough to inactivate a virus. Either the genetic material or the outer shell of the virus would be damaged enough that it could no longer infect a host cell.” Loren Williams, a professor in School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, introduced the research team to a manufacturer of ozone disinfection chambers, which allowed evaluation of the equipment using the test protocol. During the test, the researchers learned that having sufficient relative humidity in the chamber – at least 50% — was essential for rapidly inactivating the viruses in a consistent manner. After subjecting face masks and respirators to ozone disinfection, the team worked with Associate Professor Ng Lee (Sally) Ng from the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to evaluate the filtration capabilities of the items. The ozone treatment didn’t appear to negatively affect the N-95 filtration material. While they ozone didn’t harm the filtration ability of the masks, it did damage the elastic materials used to hold the masks on. While the elastic headbands could be removed from the masks during ozone disinfection, removing and replacing them on a large scale may make the ozone treatment technique impractical. Otherwise, however, ozone may offer be an alternative technique for disinfecting other types of PPE. “Ozone would be a viable method for hospitals and other organizations to disinfect garments, goggles, and gloves,” Finn added. “It is inexpensive to produce, and we hope that by sharing information about what we’ve found, healthcare facilities will be able to consider it as an option, particularly in low-resource areas of the world.” To read the original article click here.

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Ultraviolet Light Can Reduce Covid Transmission Indoors

AHA Publisher — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 07:00:21 +0000

Nicky Blackburn via Israel21c – An international team of scientists are advocating the use of ultraviolet light indoors as a cheap and efficient way to inactivate the coronavirus. One of the biggest questions facing us these days is how we can make our indoor spaces safe from Covid-19 contagion. Studies have shown that we are far more likely to catch the virus in closed indoor spaces like offices, schools, public transport, museums and health centers rather than outdoors. A team of international scientists, including Prof. Ido Kaminer of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, studied various methods to prevent coronavirus contagion in indoor spaces, and based on their findings, recently published in ACS Nano, advocate the use of ultraviolet light as a “particularly efficient, easily deployable, and economically affordable” way to inactivate the virus. The experts, from the fields of virology, immunology, aerosols, architecture, and physics, researched currently available UV-C sources, such as fluorescent lamps, microcavity plasmas, and LEDs. They concluded that by applying this type of light on the inside of the ventilation systems of buildings and in shared indoor spaces while not in use, it will be possible to quickly and efficiently deactivate both airborne and surface-deposited SARS-CoV-2 viruses. The team also explored the cost of deploying such a technology and argue that a global capital investment of a few billion dollars in UV-C sources could protect more than a billion indoor workers worldwide. “The COVID-19 outbreak, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is posing an extraordinary challenge that requires swift worldwide action for the massive deployment of affordable and ready-to-apply measures to drastically reduce its transmission probabilities in indoor spaces,” the report said. “Doing so will allow for the eventual return to conventional activities such as working at the office, going to school, or even attending entertainment events.” Recent studies show that Covid-19 virus transmission follows two main paths. It can be transmitted through the air in droplets exhaled by infected individuals and inhaled by healthy individuals, or it can be left on surfaces from exhalations or hand contact. Filters and chemicals are possible solutions to minimize this problem, but their installation may be costly and time-consuming. In addition, some chemicals that are effective for virus disinfection, such as ozone, can be harmful if misused. The other experts include professors Javier García de Abajo (Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies), Andreas Meyerhans (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Joan Rosell-Llompart (University Rovira i Virgili), Rufino Javier Hernández (University of the Basque Country) and Tilman Sanchez-Elsner (University of Southampton). To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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Ozone Disinfection Could Allow Safe Reuse of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Ultraviolet Light Can Reduce Covid Transmission Indoors