Ultraviolet light radiation seems at first glance to be an attractive disinfection method, particularly in a coronavirus pandemic. There are limitations to the technology, as covered in a short article from our friends at Cleaning & Maintenance Management. From the article:
"The radiation must be contained in a device, such as a light box, robot, or tower. People must be cleared from the room before the device is turned on because it can be harmful to eyes and skin. Sometimes the devices need to be repositioned to eliminate “shadowing,” which blocks the UV light from touching the surface intended for disinfection. As all areas need to be free of any soil in order for the UV light to touch the surface, UV disinfection does not replace cleaning." Installing permanent UVC lights or determining the placement of mobile devices is also a complicated process.
For either an emergency or routine Covid-19 remediation, I rather prefer disinfectant applied with an electrostatic process; it eliminates most of the potential harm to folks in the vicinity, and does a much better job catching all contaminated surfaces. Here's a bit on our Covid-19 disinfection process
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