Author, as appears in the article.: Garciá De Abajo FJ; Hernández RJ; Kaminer I; Meyerhans A; Rosell-Llompart J; Sanchez-Elsner T

Department: Enginyeria Química

URV's Author/s: Rosell Llompart, Joan

Keywords: Ventilation Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation Performance Light Inactivation Hexagonal boron-nitride Droplets Coronaviruses Air disinfection Aerosol

Abstract: © 2020 American Chemical Society. We advocate the widespread use of UV-C light as a short-term, easily deployable, and affordable way to limit virus spread in the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Radical social distancing with the associated shutdown of schools, restaurants, sport clubs, workplaces, and traveling has been shown to be effective in reducing virus spread, but its economic and social costs are unsustainable in the medium term. Simple measures like frequent handwashing, facial masks, and other physical barriers are being commonly adopted to prevent virus transmission. However, their efficacy may be limited, particularly in shared indoor spaces, where, in addition to airborne transmission, elements with small surface areas such as elevator buttons, door handles, and handrails are frequently used and can also mediate transmission. We argue that additional measures are necessary to reduce virus transmission when people resume attending schools and jobs that require proximity or some degree of physical contact. Among the available alternatives, UV-C light satisfies the requirements of rapid, widespread, and economically viable deployment. Its implementation is only limited by current production capacities, an increase of which requires swift intervention by industry and authorities.

Thematic Areas: Química Physics and astronomy (miscellaneous) Physics and astronomy (all) Odontología Nanoscience and nanotechnology Nanoscience & nanotechnology Medicina i Materials science, multidisciplinary Materials science (miscellaneous) Materials science (all) Materiais Interdisciplinar General physics and astronomy General materials science General engineering Farmacia Engineering (miscellaneous) Engineering (all) Engenharias iv Engenharias iii Ciências biológicas ii Ciências biológicas i Chemistry, physical Chemistry, multidisciplinary Biotecnología Astronomia / física

licence for use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/

ISSN: 1936-0851

Author's mail: joan.rosell@urv.cat

Author identifier: 0000-0002-5288-9150

Last page: 7713

Record's date: 2023-02-19

Journal volume: 14

Papper version: info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Link to the original source: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c04596

Licence document URL: http://repositori.urv.cat/ca/proteccio-de-dades/

Papper original source: Acs Nano. 14 (7): 7704-7713

APA: Garciá De Abajo FJ; Hernández RJ; Kaminer I; Meyerhans A; Rosell-Llompart J; Sanchez-Elsner T (2020). Back to Normal: An Old Physics Route to Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Indoor Spaces. Acs Nano, 14(7), 7704-7713. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c04596

Article's DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c04596

Entity: Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Journal publication year: 2020

First page: 7704

Publication Type: Journal Publications