UV Light and Covid 19

What do we know about UV light and Covid 19?

There is an increasing amount of information being used regarding the use of UV light and Covid 19 (Coronavirus) at the moment. So what is true and what is not? We’ll discuss some common points and go over them using our extensive industry experience to give our take on them.

So far we know that UV is effective when used on Covid-19. Just how effective remains elusive without further testing but the industry is using a 67mJ at the moment. This is the average of all the other strains of the virus and 60% higher than SARS Coronavirus, the closest match used for modeling.

Can I bathe myself in UV light?

The WHO has actually stepped in here and advised people not to try this. While UV light is very effective against Covid-19, it’s just as good at breaking down human tissue as well. That means that if you expose your skin to it to the levels that are used in disinfection processes, you’ll get a serious dose of sunburn very quickly. With regards to your eyes, arc eye (the thing that welders get) is a concern and blindness is a serious possibility with prolonged exposure to this type of equipment. So no, you should not expose yourself to manufactured UV light.

Can UV light kill Coronavirus?

UV disinfection is not sterilisation. The way that organisms reproduce is down to them copying themselves at a cellular level. UV disinfection stops that process from happening. When the organism has been treated it doesn’t die or melt into nothing (in most cases) and will often carry on as normal but without the ability to reproduce. We class viruses and bacteria that are post-treatment as “inactivated” and generally harmless.

What can we use to combat Covid-19 with UV?

UVO3 can supply solutions to both air and surface disinfection applications. At this moment in time, we would recommend applying an appropriate UV dose to a good flow of air. Having a good turnaround of air would greatly increase the effectiveness of any treatment like this compared to natural convection. Ideally, all the air in the space would receive an even dose over a set time period and that’s only possible with good circulation.

That’s all we have so far but feel free to ask any questions or get in touch with us directly for specific application demands.

Sources: 
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200327-can-you-kill-coronavirus-with-uv-light 
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339887436_2020_COVID-19_Coronavirus_Ultraviolet_Susceptibility 
Photo by Sandro Katalina