Systematised review of 380-480 nm violet-blue light inactivation of microorganisms

This supplementary file contains the data gathered during a systematised review of 380-480 nm violet-blue light inactivation of microorganisms.

Two databases, PubMed and Science Direct, were searched for articles from the past thirty years (May 1987 – May 2017). Search terms used key words associated with violet-blue light technology (i.e. individual wavelengths between 380-480nm, blue light, visible light) and decontamination (inactivation, kill, antimicrobial, decontamination, disinfection, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, photoinactivation, photosensitizers). The first 20 pages of each web search were screened (equivalent to 400 papers), or all pages if the search generated less than 20 pages. Additional references added to the screening list included research papers (found in the references section of review papers or in the author’s personal collection) as well as 2 PhD theses by Bache (2013) and Tomb (2017), as these contained inactivation data not currently published elsewhere. Once combined and duplicates excluded, the search yielded 9058 articles. The titles and abstracts were then screened to identify relevant peer-reviewed papers, and those which were not relevant to this review were excluded, e.g. studies on PDI, studies inducing endogenous porphyrin production, and those which used wavelengths of light out-with 380-480 nm. Following the initial screening process, 153 articles underwent a full-literature review. An additional 74 papers were subsequently removed, including reviews on violet-blue light or research studies which performed experiments out-with the scope of this review, e.g. violet-blue light inactivation of: microorganisms exposed on food; bacterial biofilms; pathogens on environmental surfaces.

The final 79 research articles reviewed contained inactivation data on clinically-relevant and food-associated microorganisms exposed to violet-blue light between 380-480 nm. Data from each article was extracted, summarised and tabulated. This includes information on: microorganism (categorised by species and strain number); wavelength of light; irradiance of light source; applied dose and population exposed. Recording data in this way allowed the calculation of the average dose required for 1 log10 reduction (total dose of light/total log10 inactivation).

Table S1.1 details inactivation of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria, Gram positive endospores and mycobacteria.

Table S1.2 details inactivation of yeasts and fungal conidia, germinating/germinated conidia and hyphae.

Table S1.3 details inactivation of bacteriophage and viruses.