Ultraviolet light can kill almost all the viruses in a room. Why isn’t it everywhere?::Can special lightbulbs end the next pandemic before it starts?
Because the spectrum required (UV-C) to do so is harmful to humans and the environment. Putting it EVERYWHERE would cause all kinds of problems.
The article blathers on for page after page after page talking about technology is back in the '60s and '70s, an experimental technology using UV wavelengths that supposedly don’t bother humans. And systems that only point up in a room like the UV light isn’t going to get reflected into your eyeballs. I get the feeling the author doesn’t have much of a background and was really just trying to stitch a bunch of research together without really understanding most of it.
You can safely blast the shit out of central air ducts, but it doesn’t do anything for infected breathing viruses into the air sitting next to you or the people that touched the bathroom door handle.
I suspect if we see any real non biased studies come out of any of this equipment the difference will be close to within the error bar.
You’re assuming it’s not more “AI” nonsense though.
The article talks about this specifically. Far-UV (222nm) doesn’t penetrate skin or eyes and is harmless to humans. The usual UV-C used for disinfection is 254nm and is quite dangerous.
This article is a longer version of “bleach kills it fast - what if that could be brought inside the body somehow?”
Just eat a tide pod and wash it down with some bleach!
Will there be any benefit to say putting it in the air duct? Like on a forced air system the main exhaust from the unit (I’m guessing it’s exhaust but that sounds wrong). I know some air filters are supposed to filter out airborne viruses and whatnot but I have no way of testing that. But I know what ultraviolet will do. And I’d have to assume sitting in the metal ductwork wouldn’t really hurt anything.
“Hydroflouric Acid can kill almost all viruses in a bowl. Why aren’t we eating it?”
The people who have are not around anymore.
“X can kill gems! Why don’t we use X everywhere?”
X: Thing that can kill humans too. And/or cause cancer.
See also:
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Fire
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chlorine gas
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dehydration
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Boiling water
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Radiation
tbh I wouldn’t mind running some of my stuff through a cleansing by fire ritual once in a while
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cuz it literally burns your eye holes
Might be a good idea though if you could pair it with timers/sensors so that it only turns on when people aren’t home or something.
Like a 1 hour disinfection every day while people are at work/school.
I’m going to shill for LifX here and not get paid for it. I swear.
They already made smart bulbs that you can set a “cleaning schedule” on that uses UV light.
I don’t have any yet because LifX is expensive. I have 11 of their multicolor bulbs throughout the house, though. Bought those back when I had bachelor guy money.
I look at this the same way I look at problems I’m trying to solve at work: is this already an issue causing massive problems with how we go about our day to day operations, or is this something that might have some kind of improvement.
It’s a resource allocation issue. Sure, I can add some bulbs that kill some bacteria and viruses. But how expensive are there bulbs, and how much are we having to deal with the fallout from when someone gets sick? In the grand scheme of things, would spending ~$1,000 on light bulbs to make sure my kid doesn’t get sick (but not when in range of the bulbs…) be more beneficial than just putting that $1000 into their college savings account and learning how to deal with missing a couple days of class when the inevitable happens (which the bulb can’t protect you from anyways - you’ll get sick from other people no matter how many lights you have at home).
That thing looks terrible. t’s wifi controlled and you’re supposed to install an app to use it. And it doesn’t say anything about the UV wavelength or power (HEV=high energy visible light so I guess 9000K can be translated to wavelength). There is a pdf test report about its efficacy against a few bacteria species but nothing about aerosol viruses. I’ll pass.
Don’t most virus just becomes useless on most surfaces after so long anyway?
Ive seen this at universities
I’ve got my house kitted out with quite a bit of intelligence. I’ve spent a lot of time and money getting it working right, and it still has issues with human presence among other things.
I would absolutely not trust any automated system with something like this. It’s like buying tools from harbor freight: anything that makes your life easier is fine but never buy something from harbor freight that you have to entrust your life to. Similarly, never trust an automation that has the potential to end your life.
Better idea, they turn off if you look at them and then when you look away they turn back on. Simple
UV light is regularly used on HVAC systems and water purification systems.
There are systems used in hospitals that are automated which will roll into an empty room and then turn on to disinfect the room. They are usually used in hospitals but I’ve seen them used in places like China during their zero covid crackdown on public transportation.
Some transit systems in China even converted a paint booths to disinfect with UV so they could drive buses through. All of which is probably overkill as prolonged exposure to sunlight will do the same thing.
Exposure to UV light that is intense enough to kill viruses within seconds is very bad for humans. I pulled the cover off a system I was taking marketing pictures for while it was turned on. Within a thirty to sixty seconds I could feel like I was getting a sunburn on my arm that was closest to the light. I wouldn’t want to risk a direct UV system turning on while someone is sleeping and burning them. As a result most systems are indirect and rely on a combination of UV and HEPA filters to disinfect airborne viruses.
There are other ways to disinfect surfaces. Bleach or chlorine is cheap, simple and won’t harm humans. Chlorine gas can be used to kill really bad viruses like anthrax. Chlorine gas was used to disinfect the Federal buildings that had been contaminated in the 2001 anthrax attacks. Many detail shops, rental car agencies and public transit systems in the US use Chlorine gas on vehicles to disinfect or more commonly remove nasty odors from vehicles. The gas can seep into all cracks/crevices and get into the HVAC system ductwork in ways UV light can not. If you ever get into a car that faintly smells like a pool, chances are it has been gassed recently to kill an odor.
UV light is both: A. Damaging to eyesight. B. Invisible.
You won’t know how much damage you’re doing to yourself until the damage has been done. This is how you give mass amounts of people eye trauma, and potentially blindness.
Oof, ultraviolet light. This makes me flashback to April 2020, shortly after the U.S. shutdown for the Coronavirus pandemic.
If you have 1:57 minutes of free time, watch this video of former President Donald Trump addressing the nation on the response to the novel coronavirus.
Warning: If you experience second-hand embarassment, try not to watch Dr. Birx in the background squirm in her seat as she sits through the idiot rambling of the orange man. Immediately after this press conference, corporations and media companies pushed out critical warnings to Americans to not drink or inject disinfectants like bleach.
- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/BalDN6iGYpE
- Piped link (privacy-respecting frontend for YouTube): https://piped.video/watch?v=BalDN6iGYpE
This video always has the beginning chopped off and misses the KEY thing about the whole fiasco. It was even dumber than you think.
Trump is walking to the podium and stops to examine a CDC infographic on an easel. An infographic about ways to sterilize surfaces.
All the bullshit Trump is spewing came from 5-seconds of reading that poster.
“I would like [Dr. Birx] to speak to the medical doctors. to see if there is any way that you can apply light and heat to cure [covid-19]? You know? If you could? And maybe you can, maybe you can’t? Again, I say maybe you can, maybe you can’t?”
“I’m not a doctor, but I’m like a person who has a good…”
Gestures vaguely at his head
“… you know what.” ~ Former President Donald Trump
Bleach kills AIDS, doesn’t mean you can inject it into your bloodstream and be okay.
Because it is very dangerous and people will absolutely let their toddler play next to the lamp. This is why it’s basically only used in places like hospitals where access can be controlled.
This is the dumbest shit. It kills all kinds of stuff, not just bad viruses. Homes are covered in bacteria which you’ve adapted to and are helpful. Kind of like gut bacteria, but outside your body. Killing all of them isn’t a good idea.
This thing kills all living things so why don’t we bathe ourselves in it?
I chugged cleaning chemicals. Now my insides are dirt free.
Is UV light the best thing since fermenting alcohol?
Jeez, every response in here is about it burning your eyes. Thing is, people aren’t in every room all the time. Have it set to a sensor, same as the lights, and you can quickly sanitize large spaces that are unoccupied. Elevators, airplanes, etc can be sanitized the second they’re empty. My FIL is a retired GE engineer working on this technology.
Have it set to a sensor, same as the lights
Given how often the lights go out at work while I’m taking a dump, this isn’t the best idea.
It’s definitely easier to tell if something is in a room than it is to tell if nothing is in a room. And sensors still fail at that. Timers would probably be better, since you don’t need disinfection every time a room is used.
If you know the office building will be empty every day at 2AM have the lights do their work between 2-3 every morning.
Fiber, bro…fiber
Sounds dangerous
I have lights go out on me all the time at the office, just sitting mildly still. What happens if someone falls asleep in the room? Or worse a kid? Severe sunburn and possible blindness
Or what if they’re black? I’ve read so many stories about sensors not detecting people simply because they have darker skin.
I dont think the lights would be on the entire time the room was empty…
Ever noticed how stuff left out in the sun gets bleached out and doesn’t last very long? Imagine leaving your carpet and all your furniture out in the sun. UV light is very hard on stuff.
IIRC, they have UV sterilizers for central HVAC systems. So while it may not sterilize surfaces, it will kill all airborne pathogens.
Do you want Ultraviolet resistant viruses?
Do you want tardigrades? Because this is how you get tardigrades.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
IDK, I kinda like tardigrades.
Me too. I think we should do this.
