With food coloring sprays, scientists seek to neutralize COVID-19

New products appear every day to combat the coronavirus (Shutterstock)

A group of professionals led by Young Kim, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Purdue University, has just published a report which takes an exotic variant in terms of virus control.

“Our biomedical engineering laboratory,” he explained. has developed a way to potentially neutralize airborne viruses using food coloring sprays FDA approved. Aerosols are small pieces of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air ”.

His idea was inspired by photodynamic therapy, which it is a medical treatment, even for certain types of cancer. This treatment alternative uses a photosensitizer, a chemical that reacts with oxygen in the presence of light to produce oxygen free radicals. These radicals are highly reactive, which means that they trigger other chemical reactions, including those that kill harmful pathogens.

Instead of using expensive medical photosensitizers, the research authors have identified various food colors FDA approved that can be used to generate free radicals in visible light. We use ultrasound to generate small aerosols containing the food coloring so that the dyes can float and stay in the air – they relate in their document. “The aerosols are barely visible and their small size and short shelf life means they don’t stain surfaces.

They used this technique to produce a device, Photodynamic Airborne Cleaner, which disinfects airborne pathogens. Based on your experience, this is the first photodynamic therapy aerosol generator for disinfection in the air.