Med. Weter. 72 (11), 709-711, 2016
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| Renata Pyz-Łukasik, Waldemar Paszkiewicz, Agnieszka Latoch |
| Effectiveness of UV irradiation for air disinfection in chambers for microbiological tests |
| The objective of the study was to determine the UV irradiation operation time required to obtain the microbial reduction level specified for the so-called cleanrooms standard in the device for microbiological examination. The samples for examination were collected using an aspiration method and a Sampl`air Lite microbial air sampler (AES Laboratoire Chemunex). Microbial air contamination was established according to the PN, prior to the sterilization and after 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 hours of air sterilization in the chamber. Significant differences were found in the contamination levels at all the sterilization times studied. Depending on exposure time, an over 3-fold and up to 8-fold reduction of the microbial count was noted. The highest microbial load decrease was observed after 16 and then 18 hours of sterilization. As compared to the first period under investigation, a subsequent decline in microbial count reduction was determined after 4, 5 and 6 hours of sterilization operation. Only the 14-h irradiation time resulted in a higher level of microbial contamination reduction as compared to the 3-h exposure time. UV radiation is an effective procedure for air disinfection in a chamber for microbiological examination and the minimum efficient irradiation time is 3 hours. |
| Key words: air, microbial contamination, UV irradiation effect |