Can UV Light Kill the Coronavirus?
With hand sanitizer a precious commodity and antibacterial wipes more scarce than a civilized COVID debate, scientists are proposing an alternative disinfectant – UV light.
Of course, medical UV applications are nothing new – hospitals have used ultraviolet light to disinfect patient and surgical rooms for years. The Greater Boston area apparently uses UV light to treat drinking water, and just recently, a company called Surfacide Manufacturing has deployed special robots to fight the coronavirus in hospitals.
Meanwhile, Berlin-based Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) has designed and developed a UV-based turnkey irradiation system for surface treatment.
And independent sources are beginning to support the idea of using UV light to fend off COVID-19. ACS Nano published a study where it concluded that virus inactivation by ultraviolet light “particularly efficient, easily deployable, and economically affordable.”
The type of UV light used as a disinfectant – UV-C – is the most harmful type, so ACS Nano recommends using it inside the ventilation systems of buildings and in shared indoor spaces while not in use.
The downside? UV COVID treatments are FDA-approved (yet). But as a very old cliché helpfully explains, necessity is the mother of invention, and right now, the main consumer disinfectant tools are impossible to find.
Never count on government to do anything quickly, but we’ve rarely faced a challenge like this, the people are getting restless, and demand is rising for efficient ways to fight COVID-19.
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