NationStates Jolt Archive

- Does UV light destroy viruses?

- How caceonogenic is UV light to humans?

I recently read some of "The hot zone" about the Ebola virus and I read in it that UV light was used in the containment of Ebola as it destroyed the virus on contact. Is that true? Can UV light be used as a sterilising agent.

I'm not a biologist, but I think I can answer the questions.

Strong UV light can kill many pathogens.

UV can be carcinogenic, but it would take prolonged exposure to a strong source. It's why people who sunbathe often have a higher risk of skin cancer.

Generally speaking, if it is intense enough, and applied long enough.

Even so, most sterilizing agents of any kind require that you wash the surface to be sterilized prior to sterilization. A surface that is dirty may not be sterilized by any attempt, since the dirt will shield the germs.

They also used a vapor product in Reston to sterilize the building.

1) Yes.

2) It depends upon the intensity. Exposure really only increases your chances of cancer, it doesnt guarantee it. The amount by which your chances increase depend on how intense the UV light is, how long you are exposed to it and how much protection from it you have.

UV can be used as a sterilising agent, but generally gamma radiation is as it's more energetic (hypodermic needles are generally sterilised with gamma radiation, for example). I dont really know what you mean by 'contain'. UV cannot really be used to 'cure' someone as you cant drench them in enough UV and not expect to kill them or at leave them with severe radiation burns.

I dont really know what you mean by 'contain'. UV cannot really be used to 'cure' someone as you cant drench them in enough UV and not expect to kill them or at leave them with severe radiation burns.

Well acording to the book, you had to pass through a series of rooms to get to the Ebola sample. Every one of these rooms was bathed in UV light so that the virus would be destroyed if it was in the air.

Well acording to the book, you had to pass through a series of rooms to get to the Ebola sample. Every one of these rooms was bathed in UV light so that the virus would be destroyed if it was in the air.
And showers of disinfectant, and foot trenches filled with disinfectant, etc., etc.

Well acording to the book, you had to pass through a series of rooms to get to the Ebola sample. Every one of these rooms was bathed in UV light so that the virus would be destroyed if it was in the air.
Well yes that probably would work, but it would be kind of easier and cheaper just to have an airlock...

Well acording to the book, you had to pass through a series of rooms to get to the Ebola sample. Every one of these rooms was bathed in UV light so that the virus would be destroyed if it was in the air.
Labs that work with infectious diseases have several different methods to ensure that the pathogens don't get out. Some include negative air pressure (so that air doesn't flow from the lab out into the rest of the building), lysol showers (to clean off the outer surface of the biohazard suits that the scientists wear when working with dangerous germs), and yes, UV light can be used as an extra precaution.

Well acording to the book, you had to pass through a series of rooms to get to the Ebola sample. Every one of these rooms was bathed in UV light so that the virus would be destroyed if it was in the air.


Right, UV tends to destory the virus by breaking down the DNA. This is where it is harmful to humans (if intense enough and long enough). UV light will cause mutations and the ultimate breakdown in the DNA (I want to say something about the formation of free radicals, but I may be reaching, its been awhile). Walking through the rooms that are bathed in the UV light should not be harmful to humans, but would hoepfully kill any lingering viruses (which are nothing more than protein coated packets of DNA) Again, though, we do have skin, etc to help protect from the rays (or the suits, in this case, which the scientists were wearing) whereas the virus is only protected by a caspule of protien (the rest inside is just a bunch of DNA)

if you liked that book, he also wrote another one called the Cobra Event, very good read. More viruses, although this one is more of a fictionalized story that The Hot Zone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosafety_level