At what may well have been the last in-person industry event for a while, professionals in the world of energy-curing technology gathered in Orlando last week for RadTech’s 2020 UV+EB Technology Conference, three days of sessions devoted to ultraviolet (UV) and electron beam (EB) technologies. UV and EB straddle a number of disparate industries—a prominent one in particular at this year’s conference was the use of UV in healthcare as a disinfecting agent, using UV light to kill pathogens that may be living on hospital floors and other surfaces.

Indeed, one highly relevant panel discussion on Tuesday was “UV vs. the Coronavirus: What’s the Situation and What Are We Doing”? Dr. John Boyce of Boyce Consulting gave an overview of the virus in general and the (then) current situation which was exceedingly informative. The session included a video report from Zhiming He of Foshan Comwin Light, who was supposed to have appeared in person but, as he is based near Wuhan, remained in China and gave an update of the situation at “ground zero.” (Say what you want about social distancing and self-quarantining, but it seems to have been highly effective in China.) This being a UV conference, the thrust of the session was the extent to which UV light might be effective in killing the virus. Obviously, it’s far too soon to draw any solid conclusions, but Dr. Boyce looked at the efficacy of UV on similar pathogens, such as SARS CoV, and cited four studies that found that varying UV exposure times and distances were effective in reducing the prevalence of the virus. “We need more definitive studies on what role UV can play,” said Dr. Boyce.

An interesting further—if disquieting—application was presented by Dr. Art Kreitenberg of Dimer UVC Innovations. He began his presentation with the question, “How often do you think the plane you flew here on is disinfected?” Given the airline I primarily fly, my assumption was never, but as it turns out, nocommercial airplane is ever disinfected as there is no practical way of doing so. At least until now. Dimer UVC Innovations is developing the GermFalcon, a UV light-based aircraft disinfection system that is in the process of being tested and is proving to be fast and effective at reducing the germiness of airplane seats and tray tables. It wasn’t designed for COVID-19 in particular, but rather for flu and other common viruses that can be the bane of both passengers and crews (“Flight attendants have twice the sickness rate of schoolteachers,” said Dr. Kreitenberg). Dimer hopes to have the GermFalcon take flight by the next flu season.