杀菌紫外线（UV）灯长期以来被成功地用于水、空气和表面的消毒，并已成为医疗行业的常见做法。然而，关于房间消毒后经常出现的残留气味，一直存在一个尚未解决的健康问题，之前也没有发表过关于这些可能的挥发性有机化合物（VOCs）的令人满意的解释。这项研究用硫醇或硫醇分子来解释残余气味，硫醇或硫醇分子可以通过角蛋白和半胱氨酸的紫外线照射产生。角蛋白是一种在皮肤鳞片中发现的蛋白质，而半胱氨酸是一种在头发中发现的类似分子。 它们也都含有大量的硫。皮肤鳞屑和毛发颗粒是室内环境中常见的污染物，存在于空气中的灰尘中，并通过表面传播。紫外线光子携带足够的能量来破坏角蛋白和半胱氨酸的化学键，以及化学副产物，包括挥发性较小的含硫分子，它们属于硫醇和硫醇类。人类的鼻子对这些分子极其敏感，可以在低至十亿分之一的浓度下检测到它们。紫外线消毒后的气味有时被描述为灼热的头发或臭鸡蛋或大蒜的刺鼻气味。 后一种气味是硫醇的特征。在室内环境中，空气中的粉尘含量通常约为100 ug/m3（0.000044 grain/ft3），紫外线消毒过程的后果将留下约2 ppb的硫醇浓度，或气味阈值水平的两倍。根据魁北克的CSST和美国职业安全与健康管理局（per OSHA），接触硫醇8小时的安全水平为500 ppb。因此，紫外线消毒后获得的实际水平可以忽略不计，因此可以得出结论，导致紫外线消毒后残留气味的挥发性有机化合物不会对人类健康造成危害。引用:2016年冬季会议，佛罗里达州奥兰多，会议论文

Germicidal ultraviolet (UV) light has long been used successfully for the disinfection of water, air, and surfaces, and has become a common practice in the healthcare industry. There has been, however, an unresolved health concern with regard to the residual odors that have often been noted after rooms have been disinfected, and no satisfactory explanation of these possible volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has previously been published. This study explains the residual odors in terms of thiol or mercaptan molecules that can be produced by the UV irradiation of keratin and cysteine. Keratin is a protein that is found in skin squames while cysteine is a similar molecule found in hair. They also both contain a significant amount of sulfur. Skin squames and hair particles are common contaminants of indoor environments and are present in airborne dust as well as being surface-borne. UV photons carry sufficient energy to break the chemical bonds of keratin and cysteine, as well as the chemical byproducts including volatile smaller sulfur-containing molecules that fall into the categories of thiols and mercaptans. The human nose is extremely sensitive to these molecules and can detect them at concentrations as low as 1 part per billion. The smell after UV disinfection is sometimes described as that of burning hair or the pungent odor of rotten eggs or garlic. The latter smell is characteristic of mercaptans. In an indoor environment where the dust loading in the air may typically be about 100 ug/m3(0.000044 grain/ft3), the aftermath of the UV disinfection process will leave behind a concentration of mercaptans of about 2 ppb, or twice the smell threshold level. According to the CSST in Quebec and per OSHA, the safe level for 8 hours of exposure to mercaptans is 500 ppb. Consequently, the actual level obtained after UV disinfection is negligible and therefore it is concluded that the VOCs responsible for the residual odor after UV disinfection do not pose a health hazard to humans.