The Naval Institute of Aeronautical Technology (NIAT) under the Southern Naval Command here has designed and fabricated low-cost “germicidal chambers” for arresting the likelihood of secondary mode of transmission through contaminated surfaces used by Covid-infected personnel.

The chambers have been customised for sanitising personal baggage, office files, personal protective items (masks, gloves, helmets) and electronic items (phones, laptops, chargers) by inactivating micro-organisms such as bacteria, virus, moulds and other pathogens.

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection method that uses short wavelength ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill or inactivate micro-organisms by destroying their nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA. The optimal wavelength for disinfection is 190-280 nm (UV-C). The required dosage of UV-C was formulated using in-house resources based on a study conducted by the Institute of Virology, Germany, said a press release.

The customised multi-purpose germicidal chamber has the peculiarity of adjusting the exposure time (operating time) from 10 seconds to 40 minutes with an auto cut-off system and has an inbuilt safety mechanism to prevent untoward exposure of UV-C rays. The design has incorporated in-built safety features to avoid direct exposure of UV-C rays during the process of sanitisation.

It was subjected to multiple sanitisation tests at the microbiology lab in INHS Sanjivani to prove its effectiveness, and has successfully sterilised a colony of e-coli bacteria, a strain of bacterial swabs and has disinfected urine samples.

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