Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec - Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Département de Biochimie, de Microbiologie et de Bio-informatique, Faculté des Sciences et de Génie, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
PLoS One. 2020 Apr 10;15(4):e0231164. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231164. eCollection 2020.
This study was designed to test the efficacy of an air treatment using ozone and relative humidity (RH) for the inactivation of airborne viruses. Four phages (φX174, PR772, MS2 and φ6) and one eukaryotic virus (murine norovirus MNV-1) were exposed to low ozone concentrations (1.23 ppm for phages and 0.23 ppm for MNV-1) and various levels of RH for 10 to 70 minutes. The inactivation of these viruses was then assessed to determine which of the tested conditions provided the greatest reduction in virus infectivity. An inactivation of at least two orders of magnitude for φX174, MS2 and MNV-1 was achieved with an ozone exposure of 40 minutes at 85% RH. For PR772 and φ6, exposure to the reference condition at 20% RH for 10 minutes yielded the same results. These findings suggest that ozone used at a low concentration is a powerful disinfectant for airborne viruses when combined with a high RH. Air treatment could therefore be implemented inside hospital rooms ventilated naturally.
本研究旨在测试使用臭氧和相对湿度（RH）对空气传播病毒进行处理的效果。将四种噬菌体（φX174、PR772、MS2 和 φ6）和一种真核病毒（鼠诺如病毒 MNV-1）暴露于低浓度臭氧（噬菌体为 1.23 ppm，MNV-1 为 0.23 ppm）和不同水平的 RH 下 10 至 70 分钟。然后评估这些病毒的失活情况，以确定测试条件中哪种条件对病毒感染力的降低最大。在 85% RH 下，臭氧暴露 40 分钟可使 φX174、MS2 和 MNV-1 的失活率至少降低两个数量级。对于 PR772 和 φ6，在 20% RH 下暴露 10 分钟即可达到相同的结果。这些发现表明，当低浓度臭氧与高 RH 结合使用时，臭氧是一种强大的空气传播病毒消毒剂。因此，可以在自然通风的医院病房内实施空气处理。
