The ongoing UV virus question

[Cadmium]

People keep asking this question. I ran across this news link pertaining to UV killing the virus.

https://www.livescience.com/uv-light-kill-coronavirus.html

[Andy Perrin]

Gotta love the MULTIPLE ADS for UVC disinfecting wands on that page surrounding the article criticizing those exact wands!

[dabateman]

I didn't get the ads on my phone when skimming through the article. Just annoying pop up videos.

 

Home users will not know how to properly conduct a routine validation study to insure killing. So I wouldn't recommend UVC for home use. As the bulbs age the dosage drops and the exposure time needed is increased. Knowing when for an average person to move that sliding scale will be tricky.

 

Best to follow other safer guidelines.

 

You can actually clean most phones with 70% Isopropyl alcohol. I would recommend that over UVC.

[enricosavazzi]

Luckily my AdBlockPlus filters away those ads. The web site does have a warning dialog about using ad blockers, but there is an option to "Continue with ad blocker".

 

FWIW, I also agree that desinfectants are safer than UVC for casual use at home. I would also worry that a child finds the UVC lamp in a drawer and stares into it for play.

[GaryR]

The Verilux sanitizer has been around way before C-19, and found this 2009 UVC test report of the CleanWave sanitizing light. I still have (and use) my Verilux sanitizing wand that I purchased some years ago, but no way to know if it's actually producing a 253.7nm wavelength, or if it's actually killing any organisms. Hard to say if any of cheap knockoff sanitizers are anything more than black-light bulbs, but I can't imagine how that average consumer handles these dangerous tools.

 

https://www.achooallergy.com/user_manuals/CleanWave-UVC-Test-Results.pdf

[colinbm]

I purchased this UV Vacuum fluoro, not for its germicidal use, but for its spectrum.

https://www.ebay.com...872.m2749.l2649

It is DANGEROUS ! It must be emitting UVV at 184.45nm & the foul smell of ozone.

I held my breath & quickly took a spectrograph & turned it off......

 

 

Remembering that Mylar transmits complete Sunlight, I wrapped the UVV fluoro with some 0.13mm Mylar.

I have now blocked the UVV & C & the Ozone & it is now emitting only UVA & no bad smells.....

 

[dabateman]

Well now you know your spectrometer works into deep UVc.

Interesting that you actually got an ozone bulb. I was trying to order one in the April to June times and nothing was available. The 4 I got are only 254nm. The Ozone bulbs must be back into production. The glass is different on them than the dopped 254nm ones.

 

But don't recommend anyone getting a germicidal bulb. They are quite dangerous.

 

Colin,

You may have missed the bold text recommendation here:

https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/4000-filter-options-for-yongnuo-yn660-flash-uvivf/page__view__findpost__p__37505

 

 

[colinbm]

Thanks Dave

You can't overstate the danger, a deadly mixture of DNA destruction & Ozone death !

[ulf]

Col,

 

I guess you already know this.

You can use those spectrograms to check how good the wavelength scale is calibrated, on your spectrometer, by checking the stated positions of the peaks.

 

There are fancy calibration lamps you can buy that also emit the same peaks:

https://www.oceanins...ces/hg-2/?qty=1

Here is an older model with the wavelengths on the top label:

http://www.bmisurplus.com/products/61435-ocean-optics-hg-1-mercury-argon-calibration-source

 

http://www.coseti.org/pc2000_2.htm

[colinbm]

Thanks for these Ulf

 

Thanks Dave for the 'heads up', I will avoid this any more.......

[SteveE]

If you troll eBay, you can occasionally find spectrometer calibration sources for considerably less than new. I have seen Ocean Optics ones in the $200 to $300 range. Also search for StellarNet. I obtained a StellarNet Mercury Argon unit for $150 a year and a half ago. Prior to that, I tried to make one out of a UV EEPROM eraser, but the result was less than satisfactory.