Further evidence that far‐UVC for disinfection is unlikely to cause erythema or pre‐mutagenic DNA lesions in skin

作者：Isla R. M. Barnard, Ewan Eadie, Kenneth Wood · 发表于：Photodermatology Photoimmunology & Photomedicine · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1111/phpp.12580 · 被引用次数：76 · 研究领域：Skin Protection and Aging、Infection Control and Ventilation、Neonatal skin health care

It is well understood that ultraviolet-C (UVC) radiation is effective for the destruction of micro-organisms and drug-resistant bacteria and is being investigated for its effectiveness at destroying the virus responsible for the current COVID-19 global pandemic.1-4 Far-UVC (200-220 nm) has been proposed as an effective disinfection radiation that is safe to humans.5 In 2014, Woods et al undertook a first-in-person study to assess the effect on skin of a 222 nm UVC emitting device (Sterilray disinfectant wand, Healthy Environment Innovations, Dover, NH, USA).6 The study concluded that erythema was induced at radiant exposures lower than required for the threshold bacteriostatic effect. Direct CPD formation was also observed in both the supra-basal layer (all four volunteers) and basal layer (2 out of 4 volunteers) of the volunteer skin. Woods et al hypothesised that a small amount of longer wavelength UVC radiation above 250 nm (<3%) may be contributing to the observed effects.6 We wished to determine why these results contrast with other published studies investigating far-UVC sources.2, 5 To determine the depth penetration of UVC in Fitzpatrick Skin Type I and the associated direct CPD formation, we employ Monte Carlo radiation transfer (MCRT) codes previously used to study ultraviolet radiation transport in skin.7, 8 The MCRT simulation initiates UV power packets from the spectrum of the source, that diffusely irradiate the skin, and follows their subsequent random walk thr...