Surface sanitation by UV radiation

• Identification
• How does it work?
• What can it be used for?
• What can it not be used for?
• Implementation
• Related Facilities
• Further Information

Identification

Key words	UV, radiation, surface, microorganism
Latest version	2011/08/05
Completed by	FRIP

How does it work?

Primary objective	Rapid and effective sanitation of surfaces.
Working principle	There are many ways to sterilize surfaces and materials to kill bacteria and other harmful organisms. One way is through the use of ultraviolet, or UV radiation, also called UV light. UV light is a form of electromagnetic radiation and should not be confused with nuclear radiation. For disinfection, hard UV-C (280 nm–100 nm, short wave, or germicide), is suitable. UV-C is used for sterilization of different types of material (metal surface of machine, drinking water, food etc.) before packaging or for sanitizing of equipment. Main role is to minimize possible post-production contamination. UV-C directly damages the DNA of microorganisms. UV-C is effective mainly in inactivation of vegetative bacteria but for reduction of spores a longer time and energy is necessary [5]. For non food material, such as rubber conveyor belts, the reduction for L. monocytogenes was 7 log (5.95 mW/cm2 for 3 s) [4].
Images
Additional effects	Ozone is a secondary product during UV-C technology using. It also has a sterilization effect. UV treatment systems are important in the food and dairy industry where the chemical dosing of incoming process water can compromise flavors and changes the physical chemical properties of the food products.
Important process parameters	power of UV lamp, time of exposition (energy dissipated), distance from surface, wave length of UV source Examples of efficiency of reduction of microorganisms: UV-C (100 μW/cm2) decreased the number of Listeria monocytogenes on Tryptose Agar (TA) about 7 log/g in 4 min. Dry cell are more resistant than moist cells [1]. UV-C at doses of 0.5-4.0 J/cm2 inactivates pathogenic microorganisms by from approximately 0.5 log/g on raw meat and poultry to almost 4 log/g on tomatoes, while the pathogens were not recovered from stainless steel at a UV-C dose of 0.4 J/cm2 [2].
Important product parameters	area of surface, type of food

What can it be used for?

Products	Sterilization of different types of material (e.g. surface of machine, drinking water, food, air…). Bacterial decontamination of low-density polyethylene surfaces used for fluid food packaging.
Operations	Pasteurisation, sterilisation
Solutions for short comings	High speed of sterilisation. Previous disinfection of packaging materials before aseptic filling or packaging of product.

What can it NOT be used for?

Products	Very dry products
Operations	-
Other limitations	Dry cells of microorganisms (e.g. L. monocytogenes) are more resistant to irradiation than moist cells [1]. Bacterial sensitivity to UV radiation is affected by several factors such as medium pH and bacterial growth phase.
Risks or hazards	Direct exposing of humans to UV-C is dangerous to the extent that it will mutate RNA and DNA.

Implementation

Maturity	UV-C sterilization is widely used in food industry.
Modularity /Implementation	There is no problem with the implementation of these technologies in industry. It is easily applicable and it has a low operational cost. The implementation depends mostly on cases: somewhere has to be inserted a new UV unit to the product line and somewhere can be installed only germicide UV lamp to the existing equipment namely for batch processing.
Consumer aspects	UV-C is a well accepted technology that is known from medicine.
Legal aspects	The use of ultraviolet (UV) light, as an alternative to traditional thermal processing, has been adopted by some juice processors as a mean of reaching the HACCP 5-log performance standard.
Environmental aspects	UV has no residual effect (does not leave residues on the radiated surface).

Facilities that might be interesting for you

Title Institute/company Lab scale oven for infrared and impingement heating - SP SP Pilot scale tunnel oven for infrared and impingement heating - SP SP Pulsed light labscale IRTA IRTA UV irradiation - FRIP FRIP

Further Information

Institutes	Auburn Uni. Dep. Poultry Science, TU Cartagena, CSIC - IATA, Max Rubner Institute
Companies	UVC.Corp. Vaclav Novak, Dr. Hönle AG, UV Light Technology Limited, BÄRO Lighting Ltd.
References	Yousef AE, Marth EH (1988): Inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes by Ultraviolet Energy, Journal of Food Science, 53 (2):571–573 Sommers CH, Sites JE, Musgrove M (2010): Ultraviolet light (254 nm) inactivation of pathogens on foods and stainless steel surfaces, Journal of food safety, 30 (2): 470-479 De Reu K, Grijspeerdt K, Herman L, et al. (2006): The effect of a commercial UV disinfection system on the bacterial load of shell eggs, Letters in applied microbiology, 42(2):144-148 Morey A, McKee SR, Dickson JS, et al. (2010): Efficacy of Ultraviolet Light Exposure Against Survival of Listeria monocytogenes on Conveyor Belts, Foodborne pathogens and disease, 7(6):737-740 Owens MU, Deal DR, Shoemaker MO, Knudson GB, Meszaros JE, Deal JL (2005): High-Dose Ultraviolet C Light Inactivates Spores of Bacillus Atrophaeus and Bacillus Anthracis Sterne on Nonreflective Surfaces, Applied biosafety, 10(4):240-247

power of UV lamp, time of exposition (energy dissipated), distance from surface, wave length of UV source Examples of efficiency of reduction of microorganisms:

• UV-C (100 μW/cm2) decreased the number of Listeria monocytogenes on Tryptose Agar (TA) about 7 log/g in 4 min. Dry cell are more resistant than moist cells [1].
• UV-C at doses of 0.5-4.0 J/cm2 inactivates pathogenic microorganisms by from approximately 0.5 log/g on raw meat and poultry to almost 4 log/g on tomatoes, while the pathogens were not recovered from stainless steel at a UV-C dose of 0.4 J/cm2 [2].warning.png"power of UV lamp, time of exposition (energy dissipated), distance from surface, wave length of UV source

Examples of efficiency of reduction of microorganisms:

• UV-C (100 μW/cm2) decreased the number of Listeria monocytogenes on Tryptose Agar (TA) about 7 log/g in 4 min. Dry cell are more resistant than moist cells [1].
• UV-C at doses of 0.5-4.0 J/cm2 inactivates pathogenic microorganisms by from approximately 0.5 log/g on raw meat and poultry to almost 4 log/g on tomatoes, while the pathogens were not recovered from stainless steel at a UV-C dose of 0.4 J/cm2 [2]." cannot be used as a page name in this wiki.

area of surface, type of food Light equipment 2.1.1 physical stabilizing, packaging, other other ISI Web of knowledge database Search terms: UV sanitation WikiSysop :Template:Review document :Template:Review status