All joking aside, there has been a furor of attention on UV-based
disinfection of late. Some of it is not entirely crazy. I.E. Columbia
University’s Center for Radiological Research has put forward the idea
of illuminating occupied public areas with ultra-narrow-band UV-C (222 nm).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5552051/
Mind you, UV-C normally covers 100 - 280 nm, and the PPE requirements
for that (at LBNL at least) are extensive: polycarbonate safety glasses
and face shield with a mark U6 (UV protection), long-sleeved clothing,
and gloves. Basically: do not expose skin!
The idea behind using monochromatic 222 nm radiation is that it is at
the edge of a very steep increase in the absorption of water, protein,
and other biologicals. Penetration depths are hard to estimate because
of the steep slope, but they are on the order of 1 micron. So, smaller
than a typical mamalian cell, but bigger than a bacterium or virus. The
paper above did not have any human subjects, nor did it discuss how to
deal with all the ozone, but the results are intruiging. Needs further
study.
Personally, I think this would probably fog your corneas and perhaps
burn the thin skin on lips and other exposed mucosa. Hair I'd expect to
embrittle and fall apart eventually. Yes, hair is 40 microns thick and
the penetration depth is 1 micron, but photon's don't "stop" at the
penetration depth. 36% of them go deeper. Plastic in keyboards too
would probably bleach and flake with prolonged exposure. Ever seen a
keyboard left out in the sun for a few weeks? I'd worry a bit about
this micro-damage creating crevices where bugs could hide.
I encourage you to bring this up with your Health and Safety people, but
make sure they are sitting down first.
-James Holton
MAD Scientist
On 4/29/2020 12:41 PM, Andrea Thorn wrote:
Hi Tim!
100% alcohol is less effective than 80%, and in order to completely be
sure, the keyboard needs not only to be wiped. One can buy keyboards
that can be disinfected because they are waterproof, such as the
Cherry JK-1068DE-2 for about 50 €.
We clean the keyboards in our lab occasionally anyway, and have used
70% alcohol on them without problem. Disinfectant wipes, a detergent
cleaner (such as Viss Glass & Flächen) and cotton swabs also offer
some help. We wipe our mobile phones with a disinfectant wipe after
washing our hands when arriving home/at work.
I would also be really interested in what could be done with a UV
light, if someone knows?
If the computer is used by one person during the shift, individual
keyboards for each person could be a solution. If people sit down, the
desk surface, which may be touched, should likely also be wiped at the
beginning and end of the shift I would say.
Stay save and best wishes,
Andrea.
Am 29/04/2020 um 21:04 schrieb Diana Tomchick:
100% ethanol or isopropanol work really well on the microscopes, I
soak a Kimwipe and then clean the eyepieces and the knobs for
changing magnification and focus, as well as the door handles, bench
tops, etc.
Diana
**************************************************
Diana R. Tomchick
Professor
Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214A
Dallas, TX 75390-8816
diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
(214) 645-6383 (phone)
(214) 645-6353 (fax)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* CCP4 bulletin board <CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> on behalf of
Diana Tomchick <diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu>
*Sent:* Wednesday, April 29, 2020 2:00 PM
*To:* CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
*Subject:* Re: [ccp4bb] disinfecting keyboards
EXTERNAL MAIL
You could try doing what my technician does with her keyboard; she
wraps it in a clear, thin food wrap that can be taped to the back of
the keyboard. This is usually done to keep food and other things
(liquids) from damaging the keyboard, but you could simply replace
the wrap every time someone else uses it.
Personally I like using a Kimwipe soaked with 100% isopropanol, I've
never yet encountered a keyboard that suffered from having the
writing removed with that or 100% ethanol. Both work and as long as
they are 100% (no water), the keyboard and mouse have no issues.
Diana
**************************************************
Diana R. Tomchick
Professor
Departments of Biophysics and Biochemistry
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.
Rm. ND10.214A
Dallas, TX 75390-8816
diana.tomch...@utsouthwestern.edu
(214) 645-6383 (phone)
(214) 645-6353 (fax)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* CCP4 bulletin board <CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> on behalf of Tim
Gruene <tim.gru...@univie.ac.at>
*Sent:* Wednesday, April 29, 2020 1:53 PM
*To:* CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
*Subject:* [ccp4bb] disinfecting keyboards
Dear all,
can you make suggestions for how to disinfect computer keyboards, and
instrument panels?
Our facility is going to reboot next week, with shifts so that people
don't meet. The main interface will be the computer keyboards, as well
as the door of our X-ray diffractometer and the mounting of the
crystals.
The keyboard labels may not like alcohols (and the efficiency of
injecting disinfecting through the USB cable is also under discussion,
so I heard).
One way would be to use individual keyboards, and wearing gloves for
replugging, and to use gloves for mounting crystals.
But maybe there are other ways that won't require gloves?
Best regards,
Tim
--
--
Tim Gruene
Head of the Centre for X-ray Structure Analysis
Faculty of Chemistry
University of Vienna
Phone: +43-1-4277-70202
GPG Key ID = A46BEE1A
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--
Dr. Andrea Thorn | group leader
andrea.th...@uni-wuerzburg.de
+49 931 31-83677
Rudolf Virchow Center, University of Wuerzburg
Josef-Schneider-Str. 2 | 97080 Wuerzburg | Germany
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