The Advantages You Should Know about 405nm Safe Disinfection Lighting

Although the germicidal properties of ultraviolet (UV) light have long been known and applied for many years to destroy microorganisms, it is only recently that the antimicrobial properties of visible violet-blue 405nm light have been applied for combating environmental contamination and the spread of disease and infection.

The most commonly recognized light disinfection method, UV, utilizes the UVC (250nm) wavelength to cause photodegradation of DNA, which results in cell death. It is well documented that this type of disinfection is especially harmful to all cells, including cells within the human body, animals and plants. This deadly side effect has reduced UV-C's overall usefulness as to where and when it can and should be applied. UV light also possesses the power to significantly degrade the quality of many different types of materials, such as plastics, making them brittle and subject to cracking and failure. This impact, while not deadly, can be very costly and compounds the challenges of using UV lighting for applications where this spectrum of light can have devastating effects on both humans and the environments in which it is applied.

The violet-blue 405nm wavelength, a spectrum of light that is harmful to microorganisms initiates a photoreaction with endogenous non-iron porphyrin molecules found in bacterial microorganisms. The porphyrin molecules are highly photo-activated, which most frequently results in an energy transfer to what’s known as ground state molecular oxygen. This energy transfer produces Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) such as singlet oxygen, which is lethal to the cell in high doses. These ROS typically cause irreparable damage within the cell, especially to its membrane structure, resulting in bacterial cell death by destroying it from the inside out.

405nm visible light is not as quick-killing as harmful UV light; it requires a longer exposure time to accomplish the task. With that said, the 405nm wavelength does not affect the heme porphyrins that exist within humans, and secondly do not cause any cellular damage.?Unlike UV light, which focuses its destructive power on the molecule’s DNA (which exists in all living entities) 405nm does not affect the cell’s DNA at all.

All of this allows for both continuous and, perhaps most importantly, unrestricted use of these antibacterial lights in spaces occupied by people, pets and plants. With the advent of “tunable” LED lighting—the capability of refining light to specific frequencies—the technology now exists to fully leverage 405nm. This new approach has created what can be considered a brand-new class of antibacterial solutions that is highly effective in a wide variety of applications in many different industries, including healthcare, food safety, pharmacology, consumer goods and services, travel and transportation, agriculture and many more.

As another weapon of choice in the war against bacteria, fungi, mold, yeast and other deadly pathogens, a new advantage has been added to the violet-blue antimicrobial power of 405nm: the ability for 405nm light to remain effective even after white light is added. This is very significant. Now, this lighting can be placed in any environment that also requires normal illumination for people to work and live, while simultaneously exposing the environment to its beneficial antibacterial properties. This “always-on” approach is easily integrated into existing cleaning protocols. So, while the technology is disruptive in the sense of being innovative, it is anything but disruptive in its practical application as a continuous cleaning and pathogen-killing component.