Table 1.
Key findings from research on UV-mediated mask degradation.
Fig 1.
UV radiation in each sector of each BSC as measured with a UV meter.
Each of the nine sections per BSC shows the UV radiation measured in the section. Numbers indicate UV radiation measured in each section.
Fig 2.
UV radiation in each sector of BSC 1 at three different heights.
Each of the nine sections per elevation shows the UV radiation measured in the section. Numbers indicate UV radiation measured in each location with the UV meter.
Fig 3.
Time to decontaminating dose with respect to distance from UV lamp for face-shield and FFR decontaminating doses.
An inverse square function was fit to UV fluence data from hood 1 at various heights for the left, center, and right-hand sections of the BSC, as visualized in Fig 2, and used to calculate time for decontaminating dose per side at target doses of 1 J cm−2 and 60 mJ cm−2 This approximate inverse square relation can be exploited to deliver high doses of UV within a BSC in a reasonable amount of time by positioning PPE close to the UV lamp.
Table 2.
Description of equation terms.
Fig 4.
Infectious units recovered in UV exposed versus control masks strips.
20 minutes of UV-C radiation in a BSC was sufficient to achieve more than a 3 log reduction in viral recovery of the NL63 coronavirus.