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The bactericidal action of ultra-violet light

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

D. E. Lea  and
R. B. Haines
D. E. Lea
Affiliation:
Strangeways Research Laboratory and Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge
R. B. Haines
Affiliation:
Strangeways Research Laboratory and Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge
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Experiments on the bactericidal action of ultra-violet light have been made to determine the shape of the survival curve and the dependence upon radiation intensity of the rate of death. Bact. coli, Bact. prodigiosum and spores of B. mesentericus were irradiated with approximately monochromatic light of wave-length 2537 A. The survival curves obtained were exponential and the rate of death was accurately proportional to the intensity over an intensity range of 500:1.

By comparing these results with data previously obtained of the action of X-rays on the same organisms it was established that one ionization produced by X-rays is as effective as some hundreds of ultra-violet quanta. This is interpreted to mean that the quantum yield in whatever chemical change leads to the loss of viability in the irradiated bacteria is, for 2537 A., between 0·01 and 0·001.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , March 1940 , pp. 162 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1940

References

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