Office of Research and Development Publications

Efficacy of Inactivation of Human Enteroviruses by Dual-Wavelength germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light emitting diodes (LEDs)

Citation:

Woo, H., S. Beck, L. Boczek, K. Carlson, N. Brinkman, K. Linden, O. Lawal, S. Hayes, AND H. Ryu. Efficacy of Inactivation of Human Enteroviruses by Dual-Wavelength germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light emitting diodes (LEDs). WATER. MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, 11(6):1131, (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/w11061131

Impact/Purpose:

While extensive studies have recently been conducted on microorganism inactivation using emerging UV light emitting diodes (LEDs) technology, demonstrating the enormous potential the technology has for water disinfection, they have focused primarily on microbial indicators and not on bacterial pathogens. Specifically, only a very limited amount of studies have been reported that target human enteric viruses. In this study, we targeted four human species of enteroviruses listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) through dual UV-C LEDs and have investigated its inactivation efficacy. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first report on an investigation of inactivation efficacy of four human enteroviruses by germicidal UV-LEDs. Therefore, while this study alone may not be sufficient to merit full-length publication, we believe our preliminary results can provide useful insights for the applicability of UV-LEDs in water treatment practices.

Description:

This research utilized a germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light emitting diodes (LEDs) device emitting a polychromatic light spectrum around the peak at 260 nm and 280 nm to evaluate its efficacy at inactivating human enteroviruses in water. The combination of 260|280 nm together was also used to compare potential synergistic effects of dual wavelengths for disinfecting viral organisms. Serotype representatives of the four human enteric species (Enterovirus A-D) were selected as test viruses, including coxsackievirus A10 (CVA10), echovirus 30 (Echo30), poliovirus 1 (PV1), and enterovirus 70 (EV70) respectively. The tested viruses have been included on the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Contaminant Candidate List (CCL). The 260 nm LED proved to be the most effective at inactivating the CCL enteroviruses tested. No synergistic effect was detected when evaluating the log inactivation of enteroviruses irradiated by the dual-wavelength UV-C LEDs. Overall, UV LEDs showed the capability to effectively inactivate the CCL enteroviruses tested. The higher efficacy of the 260 nm LED encourages further studies on its applicability for sustainable water treatment and other CCL pathogens.