Evaluating the effectiveness of a novel environmental decontamination system utilizing low-energy hyper-charged photoelectrons against coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic had profound economic and social effects across the globe. The present study evaluated the virus attenuation efficacy of an environmental decontamination system named photon-mediated electron emitter (PMEE) on aerosolized and surface-associated coronavirus. The intensity of hyper-charged photoelectrons emitted by the PMEE were measured over distances of 1-5 m using a photon-detection mapping device. The antiviral efficacy of the PMEE was tested against mouse hepatitis virus (MHV-1) ATCC/VR261. For aerosolised studies, the MHV-1 was aerosolized using an electronic diffuser in an enclosed booth. Virus particles were exposed to PMEE for 10 and 15 min. For surface studies, viruses were dried on steel and laminate surfaces and then exposed to the PMEE from distances of 1 and 5-meters. The antiviral potential of the PMEE was evaluated by culturing MHV-1 in A9 ATCC/CCL 1.4 cells using a plaque assay. PMEE emission strength ranged from 1.44 to 1.86 V inside the booth and 0.83-1.86 V outside. The average size of the generated aerosol particles was 3.0 ± 0.3 µm. After 10 min exposure, the virucidal effects against particles of 2.1 µm, 1.1 µm, and 0.65 µm pore sizes were 74.5 ± 11.1 %, 79 ± 4.9 %, and 96 ± 1.4 % respectively. On surfaces, a 1-minute exposure at 1 m resulted in a 60 ± 0.5 % reduction on steel and 43 ± 2.7 % on laminate. The PMEE-based system effectively reduced the infectivity of MHV-1 both in aerosols and on surfaces, demonstrating strong potential for environmental decontamination applications.