UVC Light Boxes- Protect Our Medical Workers

Medical personnel are risking their lives (and their families’ lives) to protect the rest of us and I want to help protect them. 

I’m not a marketing specialist and there are no words that will make things better. I’m a soon-to-be unemployed sexual assault investigator and I want to do my part in giving back during this nightmare that has become everyday life for us all. For me, giving back starts with family and friends and expands to strangers.

My dad is a cardiac anesthesiologist in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is having to reuse his personal protective equipment (PPE’s) at the hospital as the COVID-19 numbers grow each day. He is also a skilled problem solver and when he saw the danger he and his coworkers were in, he decided to find his own solution—a UVC light disinfecting box. 

The UVC method of sterilization has been around since the 1800s. When used properly it can be quite effective for disinfecting objects (not people! UVC light destroys genetic material whether that be a virus of someone’s skin/eyes) that may be carrying bacteria or viruses. Little research exists on COVID-19 because it is so new, but UVC light successfully helped with the fight against other viral outbreaks such as SARS and MERS. With a shortage of supplies, reuse of non-reusable PPE’s is becoming rampant, which means a higher risk for medical workers and patients. More sterilization options are crucial. 
When my dad told me about the idea I knew that I needed to expand the project to Vermont (fun fact: he is a UVM Medical School graduate and my mom was their medical librarian) where I have many friends who are in the medical field. An ER physician with a wife and two young children, a nurse at the start of her career, and the list goes and and on. Vermont is a state of only 600k, so it’s hard to find someone who isn’t connected to a medical professional. 

This is a project that would normally take months of trial and error, but we don’t have months. Fortunately we do have friends and strangers who have come forward to help us. PhDs, scientists, engineers, college presidents and deans, artists, woodworkers, welders, attorneys, and even a bakery and maple sugar farm have offered their support and expertise. 

What we need now is financial support to produce these boxes which will be used to disinfect masks and other contaminated items that cannot be sterilized with liquid disinfectants.

I know these are tough times, but anything you are able to contribute will be greatly appreciated! Our current focus is on PA and VT, but if these two test areas show good results, the possibility to expand this project exists, especially with more funding. Donations will go to Green Mountain Resolve, the company I created which will oversee this project. 

If you can’t donate financially we are looking for connections on the science/medical side of things so that we can test and improve these boxes as we go. We are also looking for discount materials and people with manufacturing knowledge to help us with production. 

While this sterilization box won’t stop the spread of COVID-19 or save the world, it will provide our medical professionals with another protection weapon for their arsenal as they do battle on the front lines. 

Thank you!

-Susan Law



Specs:

While we are still building the prototype, as of now materials include malamine (manufactured wood), low pressure mercury UVC bulbs, ballasts, Tyvek, and other hardware. There exist much fancier versions of UVC boxes on the market but since the goal is to provided these boxes to our medical workers free of charge or for an affordable cost, we are going with what is most cost effective while still being scientifically and medically sound. 
Research:

Radonovich LJ Jr, Simberkoff MS, Bessesen MT, et al. N95 Respirators vs Medical Masks for Preventing Influenza Among Health Care Personnel: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2019;322(9):824–833. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.11645 

Mills D, Harnish DA, Lawrence C, Sandoval-Powers M, Heimbuch BK. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation of influenza-contaminated N95 filtering facepiece respirators. Am J Infect Control. 2018;46(7):e49–e55. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2018.02.018 

Disinfection and reuse of influenza contaminated N95 masks using UVC light can be effective even at doses as low as 1J/cm-2. Some masks and straps were not fully disinfected. 

Lore MB, Heimbuch BK, Brown TL, Wander JD, Hinrichs SH. Effectiveness of three decontamination treatments against influenza virus applied to filtering facepiece respirators. Ann Occup Hyg. 2012;56(1):92–101. doi:10.1093/annhyg/mer054 

UVC irradiation highly effective in disinfecting Influenza virus from N95 masks 

Viscusi DJ, Bergman MS, Eimer BC, Shaffer RE. Evaluation of five decontamination methods for filtering facepiece respirators. Ann Occup Hyg. 2009;53(8):815–827. doi:10.1093/annhyg/mep070 

Found that UVC had a minimal effect on N95 mask function and integrity 

Lindsley WG, Martin SB Jr, Thewlis RE, et al. Effects of Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) on N95 Respirator Filtration Performance and Structural Integrity. J Occup Environ Hyg. 2015;12(8):509– 517. doi:10.1080/15459624.2015.1018518 

High intensity UVC irradiation was shown to have minimal effects on N95 structural integrity and function. The authors note it would be easy to design a system that would allow 50 UVC disinfection cycles. 

Fisher EM, Shaffer RE. A method to determine the available UV-C dose for the decontamination of filtering facepiece respirators. J Appl Microbiol. 2011;110(1):287–295. doi:10.1111/j.1365- 2672.2010.04881.x 

Fisher EM, Williams JL, Shaffer RE. Evaluation of microwave steam bags for the decontamination of filtering facepiece respirators. PLoS One. 2011;6(4):e18585. Published 2011 Apr 15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0018585 

Brady TM, Strauch AL, Almaguer CM, et al. Transfer of bacteriophage MS2 and fluorescein from N95 filtering facepiece respirators to hands: Measuring fomite potential. J Occup Environ Hyg. 2017;14(11):898–906. doi:10.1080/15459624.2017.1346799 

Touching the outside of a contaminated mask spreads germs to the users hands 

Guridi A, Sevillano E, de la Fuente I, Mateo E, Eraso E, Quindós G. Disinfectant Activity of A Portable Ultraviolet C Equipment. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(23):4747. Published 2019 Nov 27. doi:10.3390/ijerph16234747 UVC was effective for disinfecting contaminated hospital surfaces made of a variety of materials. It was demonstrated to be a promising alternative for disinfecting hospital materials and inanimate objects that cannot be immersed in liquid biocides, reducing the risk of pathogen transmission. Ec Coli and Staph Aureus were disinfected in 30 seconds. UV details Utility model Spain number 201530274) is a stainless steel box of 17 cm wide, 15 cm high and 45 cm long that includes two ultraviolet bulbs placed at the bottom and a mirror on the cover. UVC radiation is emitted at a wavelength of 253.7 nm at 8 watts, with a delivered UVC dose value of 840 mJ/cm2, 1680 mJ/cm2, 2520 mJ/cm2 and 3360 mJ/cm2 in 30, 60, 90 and 120 s respectively and an irradiance of 28 mW/cm2 at the target surface. 

Lieberman MT, Madden CM, Ma EJ, Fox JG. Evaluation of 6 Methods for Aerobic Bacterial Sanitization of Smartphones. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2018;57(1):24–29.In addition, 254-nm UVC devices providing a dose of 60 mJ/cm2, with UVC bulbs exposing both sides of the smartphone, were an effective nonliquid method for smartphone sanitization. Physically wiping the phone is a variably effective method for decontamination when no other sanitization options are available. The delicate-task wipe was far less effective that UV-based methods when sanitizing the smartphone–case junction 

Darnell ME, Subbarao K, Feinstone SM, Taylor DR. Inactivation of the coronavirus that induces severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS-CoV. J Virol Methods. 2004;121(1):85–91. doi:10.1016/j.jviromet.2004.06.006 

SARS-Cov is closely related to SARS-COV-2. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a life- threatening disease caused by a novel coronavirus termed SARS-CoV. Due to the severity of this disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that manipulation of active viral cultures of SARS- CoV be performed in containment laboratories at biosafety level 3 (BSL3). The virus was inactivated by ultraviolet light (UV) at 254 nm 

Wong J, Goh QY, Tan Z, et al. Preparing for a COVID-19 pandemic: a review of operating room outbreak response measures in a large tertiary hospital in Singapore [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 11]. Se préparer pour la pandémie de COVID-19: revue des moyens déployés dans un bloc opératoire d’un grand hôpital tertiaire au Singapour [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 11]. Can J Anaesth. 2020;1–14. doi:10.1007/s12630-020-01620-9