An Approach to Standardize Methods for Fluence Determination in Bench-Scale Pulsed Light Experiments

Pulsed light (PL) is a fast non-thermal technology for decontamination based on the application of pulses of high-intensity polychromatic light including UV-C light. Continuous-wave (CW) ultraviolet (UV) light technology is based on the application of monochromatic or polychromatic low-intensity light for long times. Appropriate UV dosimetry is fundamental in order to intercompare results and for scaling up. There are standard methods for bench-top CW UV treatments but not for tests involving PL dosimetry. The present article introduces the fundamentals of photochemistry and photophysics, adapts a protocol for CW UV dosimetry to PL tests, and critically revises current ways of reporting results of PL tests.