Geldert Alisha, Balch Halleh B, Gopal Anjali, Su Alison, Grist Samantha M, Herr Amy E
Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
The University of California, Berkeley - University of California, San Francisco Graduate Program in Bioengineering, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
J Res Natl Inst Stand Technol. 2021 Oct 20;126:126020. doi: 10.6028/jres.126.020. eCollection 2021.
Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) decontamination holds promise in combating the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, particularly with its potential to mitigate the N95 respirator shortage. Safe, effective, and reproducible decontamination depends critically on UV-C dose, yet dose is frequently measured and reported incorrectly, which results in misleading and potentially harmful protocols. Understanding best practices in UV-C dose measurement for N95 respirator decontamination is essential to the safety of medical professionals, researchers, and the public. Here, we outline the fundamental optical principles governing UV-C irradiation and detection, as well as the key metrics of UV-C wavelength and dose. In particular, we discuss the technical and regulatory distinctions between UV-C N95 respirator decontamination and other applications of germicidal UV-C, and we highlight the unique considerations required for UV-C N95 respirator decontamination. Together, this discussion will inform best practices for UV-C dose measurement for N95 respirator decontamination during crisis-capacity conditions.
紫外线C（UV-C）消毒在抗击2019年冠状病毒病大流行方面具有前景，尤其是其在缓解N95口罩短缺方面的潜力。安全、有效且可重复的消毒关键取决于UV-C剂量，但剂量的测量和报告常常有误，这导致了具有误导性且可能有害的方案。了解N95口罩消毒中UV-C剂量测量的最佳做法对于医疗专业人员、研究人员和公众的安全至关重要。在此，我们概述了支配UV-C照射和检测的基本光学原理，以及UV-C波长和剂量的关键指标。特别是，我们讨论了UV-C N95口罩消毒与杀菌UV-C的其他应用之间的技术和监管差异，并强调了UV-C N95口罩消毒所需的独特考量。综合起来，本次讨论将为危机应对能力条件下N95口罩消毒的UV-C剂量测量最佳做法提供参考。
