By: Sally Huang
June 6, 2025
Sally Huang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Biodefense Program at George Mason University researching the use and adoption of environmental decontamination technologies (EDT) in healthcare settings. She has a professional background in biomedical sciences, science policy, biodefense, public health, CWMD, and global health and works in the field of countering threat reduction.
In healthcare settings where infection control is paramount, far-UVC light presents a transformative opportunity to enhance patient and staff safety by continuously reducing airborne pathogen transmission. Emitting ultraviolet light at 200-235 nanometers [nm] that is both germicidal and safe for human exposure, far-UVC offers a promising solution for mitigating the spread of respiratory diseases in high-risk environments such as hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities. As the latest addition to a broader suite of environmental decontamination technologies (EDT)—including UV-C robots, hydrogen peroxide vapor systems, and HEPA filtration—far-UVC represents a novel approach with unique potential for continuous use in occupied spaces. Far-UVC technology has found utility across multiple sectors, including the food and beverage, water treatment, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Among its earliest and most impactful applications is its role in addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), which are responsible for nearly 100,000 deaths annually in the U.S.—a figure that has risen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientific research has demonstrated its efficacy in deactivating viruses and bacteria in the air while ongoing studies continue to support its safety for use in occupied spaces. Despite this potential, the adoption of far-UVC in healthcare still faces multiple barriers, slowed by limited public health innovation and scientific and technical analysis, regulatory uncertainty, absence of standardized safety and performance guidelines, and inconsistent implementation strategies. Effective implementation will require careful planning around far-UVC systems that are well designed, installed, and maintained to ensure reliable performance in complex healthcare environments. Taken together, these public health, scientific, regulatory, and logistical considerations underscore both the areas in need of development and the vital role that far-UVC could play in advancing infection control in healthcare settings.
Blueprint Biosecurity is a nonprofit, multidisciplinary institute dedicated to achieving pandemic prevention and mitigation through innovative research, actionable roadmaps, and practical tools. The group works at the intersection of science, technology, and policy to address emerging biological threats, improve biosafety and biosecurity standards, and inform governance of healthcare technologies and tools. Their efforts aim to ensure that life science advances are developed and applied responsibly. As part of this mission, they published a report titled Blueprint for Far-UVC report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the current state and future potential of far-UVC systems as a scalable intervention for reducing airborne disease transmission. Drawing on the latest scientific research, policy analysis, and implementation strategies, the report is a strategic roadmap aiming to guide decisionmakers, researchers, industry stakeholders, and public health officials in understanding how far-UVC can be safely and effectively integrated into shared indoor environments. As the world grapples with the ongoing threat of pandemics and seeks resilient infrastructure solutions, this report is significant for its clear articulation of far-UVC’s capabilities, the regulatory and technical challenges to overcome, and the strategic roadmap it proposes to advance this technology and facilitate widespread acceptance and adoption. The report positions far-UVC not as a speculative innovation, but as a near-term, actionable tool in the global effort to improve public health.
The Blueprint for Far-UVC report outlines ten key recommendations to guide the safe, effective, and equitable deployment of far-UVC technology, particularly in settings where the risk of airborne disease transmission is high. These recommendations are organized around core-domains—scientific research priorities, safety and consensus standards, and long term research and implementation strategy—each reflecting the multifaceted considerations necessary for scaling a novel health intervention. Alongside listing technical specifications, the report frames each recommendation as part of a broader system change, where scientific validation, regulatory clarity, and operational readiness must align.
The recommendations begin with calls to strengthen the scientific evidence base, urging continued investment in research to further validate far-UVC’s long-term safety and efficacy in real-world conditions. This is followed by a focus on developing exposure guidelines and safety standards, which the report identifies as critical bottlenecks preventing broader adoption in healthcare settings. Without formal exposure limits or unified product standards, hospitals and other high-risk facilities lack the regulatory confidence needed to deploy the technology at scale. The report also emphasizes the importance of cross-sector collaboration, recommending coordinated efforts among public health officials, scientists, industry leaders, and policymakers. Additionally, it proposes a public procurement strategy to lower costs and support early implementation in settings like hospitals, nursing homes, and transportation hubs—where the public health benefit is most immediate. Other recommendations include designing for equity and accessibility, integrating far-UVC into building codes and infrastructure plans, and launching public communication campaigns to foster trust and awareness. Collectively, these ten recommendations form a comprehensive roadmap—not only for implementing far-UVC safely and effectively, but also for embedding it within a broader public health strategy. By presenting actionable steps across research, policy, engineering, and communication, the report makes a compelling case for treating far-UVC as a viable tool in the long-term fight against airborne infectious diseases.
These recommendations also pave the exploration of additional, alternative applications of far-UVC technology. As a complementary infection prevention and control (IPC) measure, far-UVC can enhance traditional strategies like ventilation, HEPA filtration, and surface disinfection by providing continuous, passive inactivation of airborne pathogens in occupied spaces. However, successful integration requires careful coordination with HVAC infrastructure, consideration of room layout and airflow patterns, and technical expertise to ensure optimal device placement and efficacy. In older hospitals or clinics with outdated mechanical systems, retrofitting far-UVC may pose engineering hurdles that necessitate customized solutions and upfront capital investment. Despite these challenges, the potential for far-UVC to reduce nosocomial infections and protect healthcare workers makes it a valuable addition to multilayered IPC strategies.
From a broader perspective, far-UVC also holds promise as a scalable tool for global health security and pandemic preparedness. As the COVD-19 pandemic underscored the critical need for non-behavioral, infrastructure-based interventions, far-UVC showed it is a promising candidate for resilient, long-term airborne disease control. As stated in the Blueprint for Far-UVC report, preliminary analyses suggest that far-UVC could prove highly cost-effective across various dimensions (e.g., settings and environmental factors). Its utility in low-resource settings could be particularly impactful, provided that affordable and easy-to-maintain devices are made available. To realize this potential globally, countries would need to develop harmonized standards, ensure equitable access, and support far-UVC deployment through global health initiatives. In doing so, far-UVC could become an essential component in a domestic and worldwide strategy to mitigate future airborne epidemics.
The Blueprint for Far-UVC report presents a strong and detailed framework for advancing this emerging technology; however, it could be strengthened by more explicitly addressing the growing challenge of AMR and HAI and the critical need to reduce HAI. For instance, the report mentions the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, which financially penalizes hospitals that underperform on infection control metrics by reducing their Medicare reimbursements. While this program creates a strong incentive for healthcare facilities to improve IPC practices and reduce HAIs, it lacks clarity and support mechanisms for the adoption of healthcare technologies, like far-UVC systems. Specifically, the program does not offer explicit guidance, funding pathways, or technical assistance to help hospitals evaluate, implement, and maintain advanced environmental decontamination tools. As a result, facilities may struggle to invest in or justify the use of such technologies, even when they align with the program’s overall goals of improving patient safety and reducing infection-related costs.
The report could also benefit from a broader consideration of the systemic challenges that have historically hindered the adoption of other EDT in healthcare. Although technologies like UVC disinfection robots, hydrogen peroxide vapor systems, and advanced air filtration have demonstrated strong efficacy in reducing environmental contamination and airborne pathogens, they remain significantly underutilized across healthcare settings. This limited uptake is not due to a lack of evidence regarding its efficacy, but rather stems from a complex web of barriers seen in previous healthcare technology adoption such as fragmented regulatory oversight, procurement hesitation, operational complexity, and lack of sustained funding for implementation and maintenance. Other technologies have been developed to perform the same basic decontamination purpose as far-UVC, however these technologies are not widely deployed either. Drawing on my own research into EDT use and adoption in healthcare settings, these persistent gaps suggest that far-UVC could face comparable obstacles unless a comprehensive policy framework is developed to address these factors. The Blueprint for Far-UVC report represents meaningful progress in the healthcare technology realm and may offer useful direction for policymakers aiming to advance deployment. It highlights opportunities to pair implementation with targeted funding for pilot programs, the development of accreditation pathways for healthcare technologies, and the integration of far-UVC alongside other healthcare technologies. These measures could go a long way in reinforcing and sustaining emergency preparedness well beyond the immediate context of pandemic preparedness.
The Pandora Report 