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Review
. 2020 May 14:15:Doc08.
doi: 10.3205/dgkh000343. eCollection 2020.

Ultraviolet irradiation doses for coronavirus inactivation - review and analysis of coronavirus photoinactivation studies

Martin Heßling  1 , Katharina Hönes  1 , Petra Vatter  1 , Christian Lingenfelder  2
Affiliations
Review

Ultraviolet irradiation doses for coronavirus inactivation - review and analysis of coronavirus photoinactivation studies

Martin Heßling et al. GMS Hyg Infect Control. .

Abstract
in English, German

Background: To slow the increasing global spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, appropriate disinfection techniques are required. Ultraviolet radiation (UV) has a well-known antiviral effect, but measurements on the radiation dose necessary to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 have not been published so far. Methods: Coronavirus inactivation experiments with ultraviolet light performed in the past were evaluated to determine the UV radiation dose required for a 90% virus reduction. This analysis is based on the fact that all coronaviruses have a similar structure and similar RNA strand length. Results: The available data reveals large variations, which are apparently not caused by the coronaviruses but by the experimental conditions selected. If these are excluded as far as possible, it appears that coronaviruses are very UV sensitive. The upper limit determined for the log-reduction dose (90% reduction) is approximately 10.6 mJ/cm2 (median), while the true value is probably only 3.7 mJ/cm2 (median). Conclusion: Since coronaviruses do not differ structurally to any great exent, the SARS-CoV-2 virus - as well as possible future mutations - will very likely be highly UV sensitive, so that common UV disinfection procedures will inactivate the new SARS-CoV-2 virus without any further modification.

Hintergrund: Um die weltweite Ausbreitung des SARS-CoV-2 Virus zu verlangsamen, werden geeignete Desinfektionstechniken benötigt. Ultraviolette Strahlung (UV) hat bekanntlich eine antivirale Wirkung, aber Messungen zu benötigten Bestrahlungsdosen für die Inaktivierung von SARS-CoV-2 sind bisher nicht veröffentlicht worden.Material und Methoden: Coronavirusinaktivierungsexperimente, die in der Vergangenheit durchgeführt wurden, werden herangezogen, um die UV-Bestrahlungsdosis für eine 90%ige Virusreduktion zu ermitteln. Die durchgeführte Analyse nutzt dabei die Tatsache, dass alle Coronaviren eine ähnliche Struktur und eine vergleichbare RNA-Länge aufweisen.Ergebnisse: Die verfügbaren Daten weisen große Variationen auf, die durch unterschiedliche experimentelle Bedingungen zu erklären sind. Wenn extremere Versuchsbedingungen ausgeschlossen werden, zeigt sich, dass Coronaviren sehr UV-empfindlich sind. Der ermittelte obere Grenzwert für die log-Reduktionsdosis (90% Reduktion) beträgt ungefähr 10.6 mJ/cm2 (Median), während der wahre Wert vermutlich nur etwa 3.7 mJ/cm2 (Median) beträgt.Schlussfolgerung: Da sich Coronaviren in ihrer Struktur nicht stark unterscheiden, wird auch das neue SARS-CoV-2 Virus – und mögliche zukünftige Mutationen – sehr UV-empfindlich sein, vermutlich sogar so UV-empfindlich, dass etablierte UV-Desinfektionsverfahren das neue SARS-CoV-2 Virus ohne zusätzliche Modifikationen effizient inaktivieren können.

Keywords: Covid-19; MERS-CoV; SARS-CoV; SARS-CoV-2; UVC; coronavirus; disinfection; inactivation; irradiation; ultraviolet.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Overview of published and analyzed coronavirus photoinactivation investigations sorted by sample condition
Figure 1
Figure 1. A) Scheme of UV-RNA-damaging mechanism by dimer formation. B) Relative absorption spectra of RNA, relative emission spectrum of a low-pressure mercury vapor lamp and transmission of a typical (Eagle) cell culture medium.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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