Ultraviolet Light, UV
This term is not new to many but unfortunately, many people are not aware of its benefits and danger of these lights.Depending on the wavelength of the light spectrum, there are 3 different types of UV light.
- UV-A with wavelength of between 315nm to 400nm
- UV-B with wavelength of between 280nm to 315nm
- UV-C with wavelength of between 100nm to 280nm
As there are tonnes of information which you are able to find online, we would want to summarise and put it in the simplest way for everyone to understand.
UV lights are part of the sunlight’s spectrum of rays so it has been around since the very beginning. What we get on Earth are mainly UV-A and a little bit of UV-B whereas UV-C is being blocked off by the Earth’s ozone layers from reaching the surface and all living beings.
As you are well aware that exposure to the sun for a period of time will cause sunburns and staring too long at it will disrupt our vision. These effects are only from UV-A and UV-B that penetrates through the ozone layer and hits the Earth surface. This is the reason why UV-C is being blocked off from reaching us which will cause harm and damage to our skin and eyes with more immediate effects.
UV-C is very dangerous due to its characteristic to kill cells by breaking and damaging their DNA structure, preventing them from replicating and reproducing.Because of its anti-microbial and anti-bacteria properties that destroys microbes and pathogens ability to replicate, they are referred to as Germicidal UV. This was discovered more than 200 years ago and was first used to disinfect surfaces in 1877, water in 1910 and air in 1935.
“UV-C is by far the most efficient way in killing microbes; bacteria and viruses compared to what we experience sunlight on Earth which is mainly UV-A and a little bit of UV-B”
However, human exposure to UV-C is very dangerous and may cause skin cancer and blindness to the eyes. We strongly recommend that you take all precautionary measures when using UV germicidal irradiation light for disinfection. Most of the time, it is only used in empty rooms without any organic presence like humans or plants.
