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Heilbronn / Tübingen (dpa / lsw) - Virologists from Tübingen have already proven that corona viruses can be rendered harmless on solid surfaces using UV-C radiation.
In a project, engineers from Heilbronn University and virologists from Tübingen University Hospital want to check whether this also applies to corona viruses in the air.
With UV-C units, personal contacts in schools, kindergartens, universities, but also the meeting of people in offices, hospitals and practices, in administration and production facilities, or in hotels, restaurants and cultural institutions, could be safer, said Michael Schindler, Head of the Tübingen Research Section Molecular Virology, on Tuesday.
The background is that so-called aerosols, mixtures of tiny particles in the air, are considered to be an important transmission path for Sars-CoV-2.
If there are pathogens such as Sars-CoV-2 viruses in a person's airways, the exhaled aerosols can contain them.
In the case of the current coronavirus, the formation of such aerosols is particularly problematic because infected people can also excrete viruses without symptoms.
A so-called aerosol test stand is being built for the project at the University Hospital of Tübingen and integrated into the sterile bench of a high-security laboratory.
Schindler and his team then work with infectious corona viruses and check whether and with which UV-C radiation dose coronaviruses in aerosols can be inactivated.
“We expect the first results by early summer.
I am optimistic that it will work, ”explained Schindler.
The use of high-energy UV-C radiation in the fight against viruses on surfaces has long been an established process in laboratories or operating rooms, for example.
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The state of Baden-Württemberg is funding the “Test aerosols” project with just under 1.6 million euros.
The University of Stuttgart, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the University Hospital Tübingen and the Heilbronn University are involved.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210202-99-269026 / 2