LTW08: UV fights Coronavirus

There is a simple refit to buildings and transport which should greatly reduce the impact of airborne viruses such as COVID-19.

Airborne viruses are easily killed by certain wavelengths of ultraviolet light. Almost all the sites where airborne diseases are riskiest have air-conditioning or forced ventilation.

It would not be hard to retro-fit these systems so that the airstreams within the equipment passed through UV zones which continuously killed any airborne viruses. It might be as simple as drilling a small hole into the ducting and inserting a UV-radiating LED.

This UV would be absorbed within the equipment, and not pose any hazard to humans.

Recycled air feeding into confined spaces such as in aircraft, cruise ships, and meeting-rooms is the main cause for airborne contagions. If this air is cleared of viruses, contagion should be much less.

David Noel

(Published in The West Australian newspaper, Saturday, 2020 Apr 25, p. 96)

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Last update 2020 Jun 13