Photoinactivation of the Coronavirus Surrogate phi6 by Visible Light

To stop the coronavirus spread, new inactivation approaches are being sought that can also be applied in the presence of humans or even on humans. Here, we investigate the effect of visible violet light with a wavelength of 405 nm on the coronavirus surrogate phi6 in two aqueous solutions that are free of photosensitizers. A dose of 1300 J cm(-2) of 405 nm irradiation reduces the phi6 plaque-forming unit concentration by three log-levels. The next step should be similar visible light photoinactivation investigations on coronaviruses, which cannot be performed in our lab.

Automated summary

Visible violet light with a wavelength of 405 nm has been found to effectively reduce the concentration of the coronavirus surrogate phi6. A dose of 1300 J cm(-2) of 405 nm irradiation can reduce the phi6 concentration by three log-levels. Further research is needed to investigate similar visible light photoinactivation on coronaviruses that cannot be studied in the current lab setting.