Ultraviolet (UV) sanitizers use UV rays to sterilize surfaces. Research has found that UV sanitizers work, with some devices eliminating nearly 99.99% of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that cause disease.
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Some UV sanitizers are hospital-grade, tall fixtures with bulbs that emit UV rays for a set amount of time. UV sanitizers are also available as portable devices to cleanse personal items, such as phones, shoes, and toothbrushes.
Read on to learn about UV sanitizers, how they work, and whether they are safe to use.
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What Are UV Sanitizers?
UV sanitation is a disinfection method that eliminates microbes—bacteria, fungi, and viruses—without harsh chemicals or heat. UV is a type of electromagnetic radiation that produces light not visible to the naked eye. The most common source of UV is sunlight.
There are three types of UV light, which produce different wavelengths of light, including:
UVA and UVB rays may cause damage your skin and increase the risk of skin cancer if you are outdoors too long without protection, such as sunscreen. In contrast, the atmosphere absorbs UVC rays before they reach the earth's surface.
Manufacturers use UVC in UV sanitizers, available in artificial lamps and lasers.
How UV Sanitizers Work
Experts say that UVC rays with a wavelength of at least 254 nanometers eliminate 99.99% of microbes that cause disease.
UV sanitizers use UVC rays to damage a microbe's genetic material (i.e., DNA and RNA) so it cannot multiply. At shorter wavelengths than 254 nanometers, UVC rays may damage the proteins on microbes, so they cannot attach to your cells.
"[UV sanitizers] speed up cross-linking of this genetic material, which reduces the ability of the genetic material to participate in healthy replication," Karen Dobos, PhD, scientific director for the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at Colorado State University, told Health.
UV Sanitizers and COVID-19
Research has found that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is vulnerable to UVC rays emitted by UV sanitizers. A study published in 2020 found that UV sanitizers can inactivate SARS-CoV-2 within nine minutes of exposure to UVC rays. Those results support other studies that suggest UVC rays can inactivate coronaviruses.
As a result, many hospitals have implemented UV sanitizers to disinfect areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not list UV lights on List N, a list of disinfectant products the agency expects to work against SARS-CoV-2. More research is needed to understand the effects of UVC rays on SARS-CoV-2 fully.
Types of UV Sanitizers
In addition to hospital-grade UV sanitizers, manufacturers have created portable devices that disinfect small surfaces, such as phones, shoes, and toothbrushes.
Different types of UV sanitizers are available—from wands to zip-up pouches—to sanitize various items. For example, a wand might target household items like doorknobs, but a pouch might be more fit for small items like a phone.
Of note: Do not expose your eyes and skin to the UVC rays emitted by UV sanitizers, William Schreiber, PhD, chair of the department of chemistry and physics at Monmouth University, told Health.
Hospitals
A study published in 2020 looked at the effects of LightStrike, a far-UVC light, or a type of UV sanitizer used in hospitals. The researchers reported that LightStrike helps eliminate 99.99% of SARS-CoV-2 within one meter of the device within two minutes. Still, the researchers noted that far-UVC lights complement, rather than replace, other disinfectant methods.
Far-UVC lights do not deeply penetrate the eyes or skin, eliminating the risk of cataracts (cloudy lens of the eye), skin cancer, and other injuries.
Phones
UV sanitizers are available as portable devices that disinfect phones, which may carry infectious microbes. A study published in 2020 found that UV sanitizers are an effective, sustainable way to disinfect phones.
The researchers examined PhoneSoap, a UV sanitizer that envelops your phone and exposes it to 16 UVC bulbs. One 30-second cleaning cycle decreased the number of microbes by 90.5%, and two cleaning cycles eliminated nearly 99.9% of microbes.
Shoes
Certain UV sanitizers help disinfect shoes, decreasing the risk of fungal infections. A study published in 2021 noted that UV sanitizers that use UVC rays at a wavelength of 200–300 nanometers effectively eliminate fungus on the soles of shoes.
Toothbrushes
Some UV sanitizers sanitize toothbrushes, which experts advise regularly disinfecting or replacing to decrease the risk of illness.
In a study published in 2014, researchers assigned a 2% chlorhexidine (CHX) mouthwash or saline solution to sanitize their toothbrushes for 12 hours or a UV sanitizer to use for seven minutes to 15 people. After seven days, the researchers collected the toothbrushes and studied the number of microbes on their surfaces.
The researchers found that the UV sanitizer was the most effective at significantly disinfecting the toothbrushes.
Effectiveness of UV Sanitizers
Research has found that hospital-grade and personal UV sanitizer may effectively and quickly disinfect surfaces. For example, UVC rays may eliminate nearly 99.9% of microbes on phones after one minute. Still, some factors may affect the effectiveness of UV sanitizers.
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Antimicrobial Resistance
Using a personal UV sanitizer may do more harm than good in the long run. For example, antimicrobial resistance happens when microbes—bacteria, fungi, and viruses—adapt and change to become resistant to certain environments.
"[UV sanitizers] can be dangerous, especially with repeated exposure," noted Dobos. Many microbes will naturally have some adaptation or resistance to UV rays since they replicate and mutate faster than other organisms.
"This population of microbes will get greater and greater within your home, especially with repeated exposure," added Dobos.
Potency
Consumer products are likely less effective against microbes than industrial UV sanitizers since they have lower energy, said Dobos.
"The energy emitted from these bulbs has to be very low to be sold for personal use, which isn't the case for industrial applications," noted Dobos.
Some hospitals rely on UV rays to help sterilize surfaces. A study published in 2017 found that UVC light used in hospitals cut transmission of four major superbugs by 30%. Still, UV sanitizers for personal use may be less powerful than those.
The UVC rays emitted by UV sanitizer may lose their potency over time, too.
"As it decays, [UV sanitizer] becomes even less effective for its target, and I don't know how a person could tell how these bulbs are decaying," said Dobos. "I'm sure there's a 'replace by' date, but most of us only replace a light bulb when it goes completely out. This is well beyond the effective time for a UV source."
Possible Risks
Research has not found that UV sanitizers damage phones. In contrast, disinfectant wipes are less environmentally friendly than UV sanitizers and may degrade phone screens.
If used unsafely, some UV sanitizers may increase the risk of health conditions, such as:
Certain UV wands may cause skin, eyes, or both injuries after a few seconds of use. Report any problems with a UV sanitizer to the manufacturer and the Food and Drug Administration.
Do not use products listed on the Food and Drug Administration's list of unsafe UV wands. Testing has found that those wands emit dangerous levels of UVC radiation, which increases eye and skin injuries.
You'll want to take extra precautions to avoid injuring yourself or others using UV wands. Only use UV wands with safety instructions. Ensure you follow all safety instructions for UV wands, especially those on protecting your eyes and skin.
Instead of UV sanitizers, other disinfecting methods help maintain clean, safe surfaces, said Dobos. Use a household cleaner that contains soap or detergent to decrease the risk of infection from surfaces in your home. Healthy air ventilation helps, too.
A Quick Review
UV sanitizers help disinfect surfaces by inactivating infectious bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Portable devices—such as those that clean phones, shoes, and toothbrushes—may be less effective than hospital-grade UV sanitizers. Ensure that you follow precautions and safety risks when using UV sanitizers to minimize the risk of eye and skin injuries.
There are other ways to disinfect surfaces in your home. Cleaning with simple soap or detergent, having good air ventilation, and routinely disinfecting help maintain a healthy, disinfected home.
The disinfection and sterilization of transmission routes of pathogens are key infection control procedures. These measures kill any microbes present, thereby making the environment cleaner and safer for human use and occupancy. Whilst there are many ways of disinfecting an environment, one method that has been in use for over a century is ultraviolet (UV) light sterilization
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The use of UV light as a method to sterilize areas and reduce the transmission of pathogens was first proposed in 1878 by Arthur Downes and Thomas P. Blunt. Soon after, the first recorded use of UV light as a disinfection agent was reported in Marseilles, France, in 1910, where this method was used to sterilize drinking water in a prototype plant.
By the 1950s UV water treatment was in use in Switzerland and Austria. By 1985, there were 1,500 UV water treatment plants in operation in Europe. By 2001, this number rose to 6,000 UV water treatment plants that were in use in Europe.
Today, UV light is widely used in hospitalization settings as a sterilization agent for rooms and surfaces. As the use of UV light has become increasingly popular for disinfection purposes, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) systems have also gotten much cheaper.
There has been a renewed interest in the application of UV light for sterilizing rooms and air filtration systems due to the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
UV light is electromagnetic radiation that has a wavelength longer than X-Rays but shorter than visible light. UV light is categorized into different wavelengths, including UV-C, which is short-wavelength UV light that is often referred to as “germicidal” UV.
Between the wavelengths of 200 and 300 nanometers (nm), which is where UV-C operates, nucleic acids in a microbe are disrupted. The nucleic acids absorb the UV-C light, thus resulting in pyrimidine dimers that disrupt the nucleic acids’ ability to replicate or express necessary proteins. This leads to cell death in bacteria and inactivation in viruses.
Germicidal UV lamps are the primary method of application. There are several different types of UV lamps that are currently in use, which include:
UVGI systems can be installed in enclosed spaces where the constant flow of air or water ensures high levels of exposure. Effectiveness relies on many factors, including the quality and type of equipment uses, the duration of exposure, wavelength and intensity of UV, the presence of protective particles, and the microorganism's ability to withstand UV light. The effectiveness of UVGI systems can also be determined by something as simple as dust on the bulb; therefore, equipment must be regularly cleaned and replaced to ensure its efficacy for sterilization procedures.
There are several advantages and disadvantages associated with UV sterilization processes. In the case of water sterilization, UV will provide superior disinfection without the use of chlorine; however, UVGI-treated water is prone to reinfection. There are also safety concerns, as UV light is harmful to most living organisms and unwanted exposure to UV light can cause sunburns and an increased risk of certain cancers in humans. Other safety concerns include the risk of vision impairment.
Microorganisms such as fungal spores, mycobacteria, and environmental organisms are harder to kill with UVGI systems as compared to bacteria and viruses. While this may be true, UVGI systems that emit high doses of UV light can still be used to remove fungal contaminants from air conditioning systems. Historically, UV light has been used to kill tuberculosis and has recently been used to prevent hospital-based outbreaks of drug-resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
How Ultraviolet Light Could Help Stop The Spread Of Coronavirus
Since early 2020, COVID-19, which is caused by the highly transmissible severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has infected over 203 million people worldwide and caused the deaths of more than 4.3 million. Mandated mask-wearing and social distancing measures have been implemented in most countries worldwide in an effort to mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2; however, several other methods have also been employed in desperate attempts to gain control of the pandemic.
UV disinfection and sterilization measures have received renewed interest for the disinfection of spaces since the start of the pandemic. UV-C and, to a lesser extent, UV-A, and UV-B radiation have all been shown to inactivate SARS-CoV-2. However, there remains insufficient evidence on the effectiveness of UV-C radiation in mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2. This is due to the limited amount of published data on the duration, wavelength, and dose of UV radiation that is needed to inactivate SARS-CoV-2.
SARS-CoV-2 is a respiratory virus that is primarily spread by infected droplets of air expelled from symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers. This has led to a burgeoning market in UV-C sterilization equipment including sanitizing tunnels, UV-C air conditioning and purifying systems, as well as hand dryers that include UV lamps.
Despite their potential utility, these systems do not replace proven controls such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Rather, UV-C systems can act as an extra layer of defense against SARS-CoV-2.
UV light is an effective sterilization measure against a wide range of different microorganisms that are present within the environment. The use of UV sterilizing equipment is becoming more widespread, particularly in reaction to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is therefore likely that this industry will continue to grow over the coming years.
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