Grant: Alliance Grants

The current pandemic, ever-emerging SARS variants, and the potential emergence of other pathogens necessitate the need to manage airborne pathogens in indoor spaces. Lockdowns and extensive restrictions were executed to manage the spread of COVID-19 for a short period. However, the negative impacts on the economy and, more severely, on mental health proved the solution non-effective in the long run. Additionally, the vaccination and mask mandates were subject to personal choices and reliant on human behaviours. In contrast, the consequence of an individual's choice may have negatively impacted others in society. Therefore, more than ever, there is a need to develop effective technologies that allow for effective disinfection of indoor air. UVC irradiation has shown to be effective in the inactivation of bioaerosols (e.g., viruses, bacteria, spores and fungi). However, data discrepancies have thus far hindered the efforts towards determining the required UVC dose. The proposed research aims to address this challenge, by generating and collecting reliable and conclusive data that facilitate development of a standard protocol, around the setup and conditions under which data collection should occur. Also, through modeling and detailed experimental approaches, this project will investigate effective operational conditions and equipment design criteria. The results are expected to help establish a protocol that could eventually be adopted by the regulatory authorities towards validation of commercial UVC air disinfection devices.