Creating a safe environment with light-based sterilization Back to the classroom
"VioClean" disinfection lighting introduced by Osaka Prefectural Minoh School for the Needs of Education with the aim of creating a safe and relaxing environment. At the same time as the bustle returned to the shrinking classroom, the choice was also to counter the "super-resistant bacteria" that have become a concern in recent years.
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■ School information: Osaka Prefectural Minoh Support School
■School overview: Since its establishment on April 8, 1985 as Osaka Prefectural School for the Handicapped No. 15, the school has been working to educate children with disabilities in the Toyono/Mishima area. In 2008, special support education was institutionalized in the country, and our school started as a "prefectural Minoh support school". With the start of this special needs education, the role played by schools for special needs education in Osaka Prefecture has become more and more important, and while demonstrating its function as a center for support education in the region, deepening cooperation with local kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, and municipal boards of education. We are working on it.
In 2018, the Snoezelen classroom was introduced with the idea of "creating a place where children can spend time calmly." We are also actively disseminating information to spread the activities of Snoezelen.
background
A classroom illuminated by blue lights. The walls are painted with colorful fluorescent paints by students, the floor is decorated with paintings of creatures in the sea, and transparent curtains project images of the sea using a projector. A work made with a thin net floats glitteringly. This is a snoezelen classroom at Osaka Prefectural Minoh Support School.
Photo: Energy-saving disinfection mode. The classroom size is 42 square meters.
At Osaka Prefectural Minoh School for Special Needs, nine "VioClean" lights have been installed, and the lights are on 24 hours a day to eliminate bacteria.
It is possible to sterilize the shade as long as it is within the reach of the reflected light.
Task
Snoezelen is an activity that was born from a facility for people with intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands in the 1970s. A coined word combining the Dutch words "snuffelen" and "drowsiness", it refers to a space where you can relax while gently stimulating your senses with light, sound, scent, vibration, etc.
“It is a room where adults and children alike can spend their time slowly surrounded by their favorite things.”
That's what Ms. Atsuko Miyawaki, head of the school, and Mr. Koji Taguchi, who is in charge of the Snoezelen class, said.
However, after the corona pandemic, it became difficult to open a Snoezelen classroom. Due to the characteristics of closing the curtains to make the room dim and students enjoying freely touching things, it is difficult to ventilate and keep track of everything they have touched. It required a lot of effort.
LED sterilization lighting "VioClean"
Under such circumstances, the school introduced the LED sterilization lighting "VioClean" that uses visible light that is harmless to humans and animals to sterilize and inactivate viruses.
The feature is that you can disinfect while using it as a normal lighting. There is a white sterilization mode that irradiates white LED and 405㎚ light that has a sterilization effect, and an energy-saving sterilization mode that irradiates only light that has a sterilization effect, and can be switched with a single switch. The wavelength of 405㎚ is a wavelength recognized as harmless to humans and animals Japanese Industrial Standards and the Ministry of the Environment (Japanese Industrial Standards defines UV rays that are harmful to humans as 300㎚ or less, and the Ministry of the Environment specifies 400㎚ or less).
The mechanism is to inactivate the virus by oxidation. When light hits microscopic organisms such as viruses and bacteria, it enters the cells through the skin and generates active oxygen inside the cells. When these combine with hydrogen contained in the skin of bacteria, the skin is destroyed and the virus is inactivated. In the end, only water and oxygen remain. It has also been recognized to be effective against coronaviruses and various bacteria, and can eradicate more than 90% of coronaviruses in 24 hours and more than 98% of influenza viruses in 8 hours.
The power of light that connects children to the future
Regarding the introduction, Mr. Miyawaki and Mr. Taguchi said, "There are children and students whose lives are affected by common colds. I want to create a safe environment as much as possible, and I feel that there are items that provide such support. It will be a lot easier,” he said.
In addition, the blue light in the energy-saving sterilization mode worked well with the Snoezelen classroom. It has the same effect as the black light that was originally used, and it has the effect of making the fluorescent paint shine, and the illuminance that allows people and objects to be recognized in a wider range is said to lead to a sense of security for the students. The children and students are delighted with the space that feels like they are in an aquarium, and the teachers seem to feel that the range of things they can do has expanded.
Aiming for a world that does not create resistant bacteria
Furthermore, in recent years, ``super-resistant bacteria'' that are resistant to antibiotics have begun to appear, and the WHO has warned that ``if the number continues to increase, it will become a pandemic that will surpass the coronavirus.'' Resistant bacteria are created by giving antibiotics to viruses during sterilization and treatment, so if sterilization is done using light without using antibiotics, the virus will not become malicious and can coexist with humans. By spreading VioClean, Macnica hopes to contribute to a world where resistant bacteria are not created.
This sterilization method that makes use of the light action that is the work of nature can be said to be an option that connects children to the future.
Source: Pastel IT newspaper February 2023 issue
