Can someone point me in the direction of a study showing the methodology by which UV or Black light kills bacteria/viruses. I am aware that UV frequencies start at the top of the visible range (ie invisible) and go to XRay frequencies.
Back in the 60’s nearly every discoteque had black light and whilst the fashion of the day was dark blue suits it created havoc for anyone with dandruff.
I also used black light for many photographic techniques over the years.
I have read many studies showing that it is highly likely that UV radiation from the sun is responsible for melanomas in eg sunbathers and have found a study being carried out at Columbia University New York to try and identify a UV frequecy which could be used in LED UV lights at airports which would kill viruses whilst at the same time being free of the harmful effects of UV.
I just cannot find a study which says here is a virus we put it under UV light and the virus dies. Also if there is such a methodology why can’t you just wheel the aircraft out into the sun and let the sun’s rays sanitise inside and outside the a/c?
You can find that UV kills viruses instantly with a search. Actual numbers are harder to find…
The problem with using just UV, no ozone, is that doesn’t really go around corners, so disinfection is limited to surfaces in line of sight of the source.
There is also “internet info” that UV alone can cause viruses to mutate.
To make ozone you need UVC which is extremely dangerous to the retina, and to skin. You also need a specific portion of UVC to make ozone (I don’t know any more) and UVC lamps come in two kinds: “non ozone” and “ozone”.
Sunbeds, and the disco lights, are supposed to be UVA, which is supposed to be “safe” but I doubt it.
I’ve read articles stating that the virus gets killed quickly at temperatures like +40C, and a GA plane parked in sunlight will reach that very quickly. So with the summer coming the “touching surfaces” risk may be much less.
Peter wrote:
The biggest hazard by probably 100x is the trolley handle.
I bring my own trolley actually :) I have a collapsible one, but since the shop is in the same street, I walk with it.
This is a video on this topic by @FlyingReporter
Meanwhile this is how they fly in Germany: with masks
This is being sold in the UK for training, for £30-40
There is a real danger that people fall into the classic trap of over focus on one risk / mitigation activity and don’t holistically assess what is going on. I have had some involvement with this in the past with people wearing layers of fire protection clothing and falling ill / faint due to heat stress – risk of fire very low, risk of fainting due heat stress very high. The sensible course of action is obvious.
As virus transmission drops, I believe the risk of obscuring lookout, heat stress, distraction, comms problems etc.. from these shields and masks far outweighs the real risk of getting COVID if other sensible non intrusive mitigations are taken. I certainly won’t be flying with any of them.
We have been instructing for a month or more now. No particular protection except cleaning of cockpit.
As individual pilots, probably the best form of protection we can do is to limit the number of people we fly with.
So don’t bring passengers from outside your household.
Stay current so that you don’t have to fly with an instructor.
Obviously if you’re training or need to fly with an instructor to get current again, then this is a risk. But as the levels in the community fall (at least in certain countries) the risk is probably not that high for one or two flights to get current.
I don’t think I’d be doing a 45hr PPL course at present though. That would be too much exposure for me.
The national health institute has been rather reluctant to masks, to put it mildly. At the press conference yesterday, they had finally gone through a mass of scientific research. They found that masks will reduce the risk anywhere from 6 to 67 % depending on who did the research.
They made an example. With the current spread of the virus, if 200k persons wore masks for 1 week. This would stop 1 single person from being contaminated. This was with a 40% protection from the mask. It’s clearly negligible. It’s not personal protection that stops this virus.
Even so. All commercial flights in Norway, national and international, masks are compulsory for all passengers, the law. I just hope this doesn’t start to leak to private flights.
Edit. I was wrong. For domestic flights, masks or not is up to the airline. International flights has to follow EASA regulations, meaning masks.
This must obviously be massively population density dependent.
If you are alone on a desert island, a mask will have zero benefit. If you are in an unventilated room with people spaced 30cm apart, for hours, a mask probably does almost nothing.
On an airliner, who knows. I would expect masks to make quite a lot of difference, especially for the person next to you.
