Hello,
I’ve been seeing similar news intensely in the last few days, “UV ray that kills COVID-19 has been invented”, “UV cabin”, “UV Handset” and I felt the need to write this short article.
First of all, the following information comes from the fact that we, as a company, have been intertwined with UV lighting sources for many years, and is based on data.
The UV spectrum is simply divided into three.
- UV-A: 320nm-400nm
- UV-B: 290nm-320nm
- UV-C. 100nm-290nm
Additional info:
- The light spectrum is classified by wavelength, nm (nanometers).
- Different information on wavelength limits can be found in different sources. In particular, 280nm is also used for the UV-B and UV-C limit.
- UV-A: It is the wavelength closest to visible light. The main source is the sun. Most of it is not held by the ozone layer and reaches us. In daily life, what we know as purple-light, black-light, is used as a coin accuracy check or disco light.
- UV-B: 95% is stopped by the ozone layer (du). Since this rate is decreasing, skin cancers are increasing day by day.
- UV-C: Extremely dangerous. It breaks down the genetic material inside the cell. In case of skin contact, it burns very quickly. It has been used for sterilization for many years. (I know this finding dates back to 1878)
How can you tell which UV range a lighting source corresponds to when you look at it with the naked eye?
Let me give you some more information right away. Viruses are not alive. Bacteria are alive. You can kill bacteria under strong UV-A for a long time. However, not the virus, likewise, for something to die, it must be alive. (If you stay in the sun for a long time, you will die too)
As far as I’ve researched, there is currently no UV test on COVID-19 (or I couldn’t find it) but on another Coronavirus, SARS. According to the results of the research, UV-B has no particular effect on SARS even for long periods.
What remains is UV-C. UV-C breaks down the genetic material of SARS. I specifically used the word shred, it doesn’t kill, it shreds. But the problem is that in a short time (a few seconds), UV-C also begins to break down the genetic material in human cells. It can cause serious burns to your skin and blindness if it gets into your eyes.
As a result, please do not use UV light sources to disinfect people. Tunnel, cabin, hand disinfection, etc.
Do not!!!
Oh my!!!
If you are going to use it on non-organic objects (environment, object, clothing) you must use UV-A. Remember, UV-A does not penetrate. In other words, it provides disinfection only at the point where it hits. It does not disinfect the inside of a box. One more piece of information, UV is a ray after all, it is not permanent. So, what you use today is useless tomorrow. It doesn’t even work 1 second after the light source is turned off.
Note: I don’t sell any UV lighting that can be used for the above purposes and I don’t know where to buy either. The UV light sources we use work only 1cm in diameter.
Stay healthy…
General Manager @ Pulsar Robotik A.Ş.