What is UVC?

When looking for ways to clean the air in your occupied work space it is important to look for the foremost products available. Why settle for anything less than the best purified air you can achieve?

Let me introduce to you UVC sanitized lighting. UVC, Ultraviolet C, or known as germicidal ultraviolet rays (GUV), are radiation electromagnetic energy wavelengths in the 200-280 nm spectral band that inactivate any virus, bacteria, mold, and fungi within its range.

UVC wavelengths are made up of photons or “particles of light” that are filled with the highest amount of energy in the optical spectrum, of which, UV, visible, and infrared are located. These are the most photochemically active, meaning they become the most active with light, making them an excellent disinfectant.

Looking at these UV wavelengths, they “have been shown to be the most effective for disinfection” as Harvard Medical University pointed out in a 2020 IES Photobiology Committee report.

Individual, energetic UV-C photons photochemically interact with the RNA and DNA molecules in a virus or bacterium to render these microbes non-infectious.” – IES Committee Report

Yes, this wavelength technology has the ability to completely inactivate and eliminate the internal structures of viruses and pathogens, rendering them non-infectious. UVC germicidal products have been used for many years. In Fact, “In 1942, Wells and Wells reported the application of upper room 254 nm germicidal UV lamps to reduce measles transmission in schools in two Philadelphia suburbs” said a Special Issue Invited Review study from the Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham & Women’s Hospital.

In the same study they stated that “Germicidal UV, primarily upper room UV, has for over 80 years provided a safe and highly effective way to disinfect air in occupied rooms where person to person transmission is likely to occur. Quantitatively, where applicable, no other technology approaches the equivalent air changes per hour that can be produced by upper room UV, silently, safely and cost-effectively.”

While being shown to be the most effective, UVC disinfection has actually been used for almost a century in the public academic department area, which speaks volumes on this technology. UV disinfection technology has been around from its inception in 1877 and continues to be used throughout the world.

Safety

There are some that have doubts when it comes to the safety of UVC sanitizing technology. As well as UVC being safer than UVA and UVB, Blue Halo makes sure to contain all UVC rays and wavelengths within our products, so there is absolutely no need for concern. Safety is extremely important when dealing with health and well-being, that’s why Blue Halo has made sure there are no negative effects or risks from installing any sanitized lighting system.

“UVGI lamp emissions can pose a workplace safety and health hazard to the eyes and skin if the lamps are improperly used or installed. However, these lamps can be used safely if workers are informed regarding the hazards and follow appropriate precautions. upper-room UVC has been safely used for preventing airborne transmission for at least 70 years.” – IES Committee Report

The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine stated “UVA and UVB wavelengths cause skin cancer and cataracts, but shorter wavelength UVC is absorbed by the dead outer skin and the top epithelial layer of cells, which are regularly shed. It does not reach the living layer of basal cells, and therefore does not cause any permanent damage. This means that exposure to UVC light is far safer for humans than sunlight or tanning lamps (which also emit UVA and UVB), even at the same doses.”

We can therefore without a doubt conclude that our Blue Halo UVC sanitizing products can be operated safely.

In the end

In light of the recent pandemic, would using UVC be an effective tool to control and inactivate this pathogen? 

Yes, you can rest assured knowing that UVC technology can help solve this issue. In a report from the Illuminating Engineering Society they stated that the recent pandemic pathogen can be “directly eliminated” by the UVC technology, as well as any pathogen or virus.

Another study from Harvard stated that “Most transmission appears to occur in rooms where both an infectious source COVID-19 case and other susceptible occupants share the same air.” This makes UVC technology within the workplace absolutely crucial.

Blue Halo UVC Lighting offers any work or occupied space with a clean and safe air environment to reduce illness and stop the spread.

References

1. https://ghdcenter.hms.harvard.edu/files/ghd_dubai/files/ies_faq_on_germicidal_uv-cr-2-20-v1a_1.pdf
2. https://ghdcenter.hms.harvard.edu/files/ghd_dubai/files/fact_sheet_on_uv_disinfection_for_covid_to_circulate.pdf
3. https://ghdcenter.hms.harvard.edu/files/ghd_dubai/files/nardell-2021-prepring-air_disinfection_for_airborne_infection_control_with_a_focus_on_covid-why_germicidal_uv_is_essential.pdf