A New Light

One such poll by Eagle Hill Consulting in April 2020, just a few weeks into the world’s largest telecommuting experiment, revealed that a majority of employees were extremely apprehensive about their exposure to pathogens, including coronaviruses, in the workplace. A year later, when Eagle Hill conducted a similar poll, a new set of survey participants expressed greater confidence, but some concerns remained. Close to half wanted employers to postpone any office reopening. Most hoped their employers would adhere to the strictest of health recommendations — continuously cleaning and disinfecting, included.

For facility managers, these findings suggest it is more important than ever to provide an extra layer of protection to reduce their staff’s exposure to bacteria, viruses and other infectious diseases as more workers return in the coming months.

Such an approach will require a new, adaptive way of deep cleaning and disinfecting that goes beyond extra scrubbing from the nightly janitorial crew.

Lighting plays new role inside offices

Thanks to recent advancements in LEDs, there is an innovative approach to mitigating contamination: antimicrobial LED lighting technology, which attains the maximum dosage levels of disinfectant action by tuning the power of its lights to specific lux levels, angles and distances from targets.

This new lighting technology, which is internationally approved for uninterrupted use around people, pets and plants, illuminates where and when light is needed, simultaneously creating an inhospitable environment for pathogens, microbes and multiples classes of viruses — including coronaviruses.

Antimicrobial lighting uses a wavelength of light that commonly attacks and kills bacteria, fungi, yeast, mold, coronaviruses and pathogens on any surface that light touches, with effectiveness often exceeding 90 percent.

This next generation of germicide illumination operates 24/7 to reduce the bioburden — the number of microorganisms living on a surface yet to be sanitized — and supplements general cleaning efforts. This is completed in two ways: by incessantly disinfecting already cleaned-off surfaces and by checking off frequently overlooked items such as doorknobs or items on workers’ desks that janitors are told to steer clear from, such as phones, keyboards and computer mice.

Antimicrobial lighting technology utilizes LED diodes to emit a specialized luminosity that provides continuous, uninterrupted protection inside small or hard-to-reach spaces while illuminating high-traffic areas of the office where workers gather, including lobbies, restrooms, kitchenettes, breakrooms and conference rooms — all of which, according to studies, were breeding grounds for microbes long before the COVID-19 pandemic upended the hustle and bustle of commercial office spaces.

How infectious diseases spread easily inside offices

According to WebMD, employees who report to work at the office collect more than a paycheck. Unwittingly, they also collect bacteria and other causes of pathogens — lots of them, with the average office desk yielding some 400 times more bacteria than on a typical toilet seat.

Researchers at the University of Arizona found equally disturbing conclusions. The average desk has more than 10 million bacteria organisms, and men reportedly have three to four times more bacteria breeding on their desks than their female colleagues. According to the report, men tend to have lower levels of desk hygiene as well as larger-sized desks, translating to more surface area for bacteria and viruses to accumulate.

Perhaps more alarming: germ-infested doorknobs and tabletops can spread pathogens to 60 percent of an office’s staff within two to four hours. No wonder employees take an average of 4.9 sick days each year, according to a PwC analysis. For a company with 100 workers, that equates to 490 days lost due to sickness linked to the office. Sick days add up fast, representing a total productivity zapper.

Professor Kelly Reynolds, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona, explained this damaging domino effect in the clearest of terms just after the release of the 2019 report: “We touch a lot of different surfaces that hundreds of others might be touching. Germs spread quickly.”

Even the greatest scrubbing efforts by professional cleaners can do only so much for so long.

Research shows bacteria counts are the lowest just after cleaning has been completed. That was traditionally at the start of a workday because offices were cleaned the night before. Today, with re-occurring cleaning efforts increased, that could be at multiple times throughout the workday. Still, it does not take long for bacteria to return. All it takes is the arrival of a single person to make the last deep cleaning effort all for naught. “As the day ramps up and more people touch more surfaces, the risk of encountering bacteria goes up,” Reynolds noted.

Soap and water, Reynolds said, are traditionally not strong enough to kill all bacteria, coronaviruses and other infectious diseases on surfaces. “You need to use a product with a disinfectant,” she cautioned. This is where the right touch of light can shine a purifying glow. But if managers and FMs want to keep their operations humming along, the first disinfectant light that comes to mind is not the way to go.

Why UV lighting can cause business disruptions

Offices have already shifted their focus to researching and investing in state-of-the-art, hospital-grade technologies to better protect their workforce from the fast growth of viruses and microorganisms and the infection threats they impose.

A common, go-to solution has been investing in and installing ultraviolet (UV) lighting, which closely mirrors the technological composition and disinfecting benefits of antimicrobial lighting. Both have powerful, well-documented disinfectant capabilities.

But the two are not the same. They differ in many ways — the technologies they use, the microorganisms they are effective against, the way they kill microbes and even the applications they used in. Perhaps the most significant difference for office environments: one will minimize business disruptions while the other will escalate them.

Here’s why: UV lighting is intrinsically dangerous. It essentially works as a harsh disinfectant, piercing a microbe's nucleus and obliterating nucleic acids while disrupting DNA structures. The damaged DNA accumulates and leaves the cells unable to perform vital essential functions.

Prolonged exposure at high intensities harms the cellular structure in living things — humans included. Potential eye problems include cataracts, issues with the cornea and temporary or permanent loss of vision. UV lighting can also make it harder for the skin to heal, experts say. It may even cause cancer.

In other words, UV lighting is not suitable for use when humans are present in a space. This explains why, for all the raving headlines touting UV lighting, just as many warn about its limitations and safety issues. Reports last year alerted workplaces about the potential eye damage UV lighting can cause, and a report about a Boston food bank robot that shined UV disinfectant lighting came with one big caveat: the light cannot be shined when people are nearby. A built-in protection feature shuts off the robot’s cleaning function when movement is detected.

Both cautionary tales emphasize how it is exceedingly challenging to promise endless disinfecting without any business disruptions when it comes to UV lighting.

Antimicrobial lighting continuously disinfects without business disruptions

Antimicrobial lighting, on the other hand, can make – and not break – such a promise.

The illumination meets the international standards for continuous and unrestricted use with people present by using wavelengths cluster around the 405-nanometer mark, which is just north of the UV frequency range of 100 to 380 nanometers. More nanometers traditionally equal more wavelengths on the visible light spectrum, and the shorter the wavelengths below 380 nanometers, the greater the danger to living things.

Antimicrobial lighting’s extermination power comes from within the visible light spectrum, from 380 nanometers to approximately 750 nanometers. It activates certain types of porphyrin molecules in infectious microbial cells but not in human, plant or animal cells. When activated, the porphyrins produce excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as singlet oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl groups, destroying multiple structures within the infectious cell.

Unlike microbial cells, the types of porphyrin molecules found in humans and other animals are not photoactivated by illumination in the 400-to-420 nanometer range, which is why antimicrobial lighting technology is approved for continuous usage with worker bees crisscrossing underneath.

Similarly, antimicrobial lighting does not trigger the degradation of materials as UV does. UV rays can break down the chemical bonds found in plastics and cause fabric and some other objects to fade in color and structure. Nor does antimicrobial lighting require the high upkeep that UV lighting requires, such as regular bulb replacement and constant oversight.

With antimicrobial lighting, its varying cleaning modes require just two simple steps: first, set the system up using a preset, timer or sensor. Then, forget about it – it is good to go.

Antimicrobial lighting shares the disinfecting benefits of UV lighting, but without the long-lasting harmful impacts or productivity-sucking side effects. Call it a specialized, round-the-clock sanitation service office workers see, but never feel.

How antimicrobial lighting beats the contamination challenge across the office

Antimicrobial lighting has already been tested in commercial applications worldwide, passing each time with flying colors.

For instance, a large corporate office witnessed a 92.4 percent bioburden reduction on five of the most commonly used surfaces in the company’s breakroom — the toaster, refrigerator, sink, water cooler and trash can — after installing an antimicrobial clean lighting system. A public bathroom, according to reports, also experienced significant bacterial declines. Newly released research also underscores antimicrobial light’s knockout punch on viruses, with the system’s efficacy reaching 91 percent or higher when a greater lighting intensity was enacted.

These case studies share two additional characteristics: no business disruptions and no need to vacate the well-lit space.

Lighting has always been among the most prominent features in a dynamic work environment. Studies show that certain types of lighting can fundamentally impact employees’ mental and physical health. The National Lighting Bureau, for instance, underscores research that shows how lighting can influence mood, behavior and creativity. Certain types of lighting, the organization said, directly correlate with workers’ ability and desire to get projects and work completed. The productivity factor of cooler-temperature lighting — illumination between 4,000 kelvin (K) and 7,000K — paired with higher intensities compared to the effects of warmer-temperature lighting with lower intensities is well-known and documented.

Now, thwarting surface bacteria, viruses and infectious pathogens is a new leading role for commercial lighting technology.

Workers have long expected quality lighting to think and see well. Same with leadership. Both should consider their office lighting — with the integration of an LED antimicrobial system — as the gateway to something perhaps even more critical: a soothing illumination that helps reduce unproductive sick days, minimizes remote workdays and welcomes back staff with the company’s commitment to a healthier, cleaner work environment under the right light.