Schools, Stores, and Office Buildings Can Now Install Overhead Lights That Kill Bacteria
This week, manufacturer Visa Lighting released a line of linear light fixturespowered by healthcare solutions company Vital Vio’s White Light Disinfection® technology to continuously kill bacteria over time.
The Linesse family includes modern, 3″ wide linear slot luminairesin recessed, surface, and pendant models. Each is available with either standard white LED or White Light Disinfection® sources, so designers and facility managers can focus installation of continuous germ-killing power in the busiest areas.
Why is continuous disinfection needed?
Harmful bacteria are still a dangerous problem. Each year, Salmonella causes one million illnesses, leading to 19,000 hospitalizations. E coli infects 73,000 people, costing the US $30 million in medical expenses. C. diff is responsible for 453,000 illnesses, 29,300 of which are fatal. One of their biggest problems is antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which evolve due to the overuse of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections. The CDC estimates that 2 million people each year are infected with superbugs, resulting in 23,000 deaths.
Facility departments invest time and money in infection control measures. The global infection control market is expected to be worth $18 billion by 2024. That money is spent on chemical spray-and-wipe solutions, UV air vent purification, germicidal hydrogen peroxide fog machines, special materials, facility infection control departments, and more. Many of these solutions are used in hospitals, where patients are vulnerable and the risks of contamination and infection are high.
Bacteria spread in busy areas that see skin-to-skin or skin-to-surface contact (like athletic facilities, healthcare environments, retail, schools, public transportation, etc.). Many of those areas only undergo intermittent cleaning. However, they already require illumination. Disinfecting continuously with light is a new approach that doesn’t require extra labor or resources.
How does it work?
Vital Vio’s LED technology offers an elegant solution to the problem: by specifically producing wavelengths of light that kill bacteria cells (and bacteria cells only), then combining those wavelengths with others to produce a “regular” white light, we can kill germs wherever we need lighting—and that’s nearly everywhere.
Many people confuse this technology with UV sterilization because they both use light to kill bacteria, but these are completely different methods. UV wavelengths are part of the invisible spectrum of light, and they immediately eradicate bacteria by targeting its DNA. While effective, this process must be performed in an unoccupied enclosure because it also damages human cells.
The visible light spectrum, on the other hand, provides a totally different solution that can integrate with daily operations. White Light Disinfection® technology uses a specific wavelength of visible light between 400-450 nanometers that causes porphyrin molecules in single-cell organisms to break down over time, killing the cell. This wavelength’s germ-killing properties were discovered in sunlight in the late 1800s. Now, LED technology finally allows us to harness this particular wavelength for indoor lighting.
In combination with regular cleaning, these light fixtures can significantly reduce the bacteria levels on surfaces in any indoor space. Vital Vio has produced several laboratory studies and in-situ case studies to demonstrate its efficacy in real-world applications.