What is UV-C light?
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelenght from 10 nm (at corrensponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz). It’s shorter than visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight, and constitutes about 10% of the total electromagnetic radiation from Sun. Of the UV radiation that reaches the earth, 95 percent is UVA and five percent is UVB. No measurable UVC from the sun reaches the earth’s surface. Because of the spectral sensitivity of DNA, only the UVC region demonstrates significant germicidal properties. Within the UVC range, 254 nm is easily produced from a mercury low-pressure vapor lamp and has been shown to be closest to the optimal wavelength for germicidal action.
The amount of UV light produced by the Sun means that the Earth would not be able to sustain life on dry land if most of that light were not filtered out by the atmosphere. Artificially it is produced by electric arcs (welding) and specialized lamps, such as mercury-vapor, tanning and black lights. The lower wavelenght limit of human vision is conventionally taken as 400 nm, so ultraviolet rays are invisible to humans. Some insects, birds and mammals can see near UV. UV has effects, both beneficial and harmful to life.
How UV-C disinfection works?
As evident by multiple research studies and reports, when biological organisms are exposed to deep UV light in the range of 200 nm to 300 nm it is absorbed by DNA, RNA, and proteins.
Are all devices that produce UVC radiation the same?
Not all UVC devices are the same. Lamps may emit very specific UVC wavelengths (like 254 nm or 222 nm), or they may emit a broad range of UV wavelengths. Some lamps also emit visible and infrared radiation. The wavelengths emitted by the lamp may affect the lamp’s effectiveness at inactivating a virus and may impact the health and safety risks associated with the lamp. Some lamps emit multiple types of wavelengths. Testing of the lamp can determine whether, and how much, other wavelengths the lamp puts out.
What are the different types of lamps that can produce UVC radiation?
Low-pressure mercury lamp: Historically, the most common type of lamp used to produce UVC radiation was the low-pressure mercury lamp, which has its main (>90%) emission at 254 nm. Other wavelengths are also produced by this type of lamp. There are other lamps available that emit a broad range of UV wavelengths, but also emit visible and infrared radiation.
Excimer lamp or Far-UVC lamp: Type of lamp, called an “excimer lamp”, with a peak emission of around 222 nm.
Pulsed xenon lamps: These lamps, which emit a short pulse of broad spectrum (including UV, visible and infrared) light have been filtered to emit mainly UVC radiation and are sometimes employed in hospital settings to treat environmental surfaces in operating rooms or other spaces. These are normally employed when no humans are occupying the space.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs): Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that produce UV radiation are also becoming more commonly available. Typically, LEDs emit a very narrow wavelength band of radiation. Currently available UV LEDs have peak wavelengths at 265 nm, 273 nm, and 280 nm, among others. One advantage of LEDs over low-pressure mercury lamps is that they contain no mercury. However, the small surface area and higher directionality of LEDs may make them less effective for germicidal applications.
Will NUVTON destroy/ inactivate all harmful micro-organisms in a given area?
NUVTON device placed in direct line of sight with the surface / object to be disinfected and set to the appropriate time for said area are designed to destroy/ inactivate up to 99.99% of micro-organisms in the NUVTON’s path.
How to sterilize & disinfect with UV-C?
It differs from device to device. You should always read user manual for proper and safe way to do it. If your device does not have detailed and well explained user manuals, you should return item back to seller or ask for it before operating UVC devices. NUVTON manual is one of most extensive and visually self-explained manuals on the market and we are proud putting our user´s experience a top priority.
What is LOG reduction and UV dose?
Disinfection professional today are generally concerned with what percentage of a given germ is killed by a particular process or disinfectant. Log reduction is a mathematical term that is used to express the relative number of living microbes that are eliminated by disinfection. The highest percentage that is generally used is 99.9999%. In scientific research papers, this percentage is written as “ a 6 log reduction”.
So how are log rates calculated? Scientists use a logarithmic scale. Log reduction stands for a 10-fold (or one decimal point) reduction in bacteria, meaning the disinfectant reduces the number of live bacteria by 90 percent for every step. For example, a 1 log reduction corresponds to inactivating 90 percent of a target microbe with the microbe count being reduced by a factor of 10. Thus, a 2 log reduction will see a 99 percent reduction, or microbe reduction by a factor of 100, and so on.
UV Dose is the amount of UV radiation a microbe is exposed to and depends on the intensity of UV radiation and exposure time. A number of biological studies have produced widely accepted typical UV dose requirements for most common target microbes in disinfection. For example, to achieve a 3 log reduction (99.9 percent) of B. Subtillus (ATCC 6633) requires a 60 mJ/cm2 dose.
What to know before buying?
First step before buying any UVC disinfection / sterilization device, you should know purpose and type of application. If you intend to disinfect objects or surfaces, you are best with UV-C handheld portable device. When there is need to disinfect whole place you should look for standalone or robots in case of huge areas. Fixed fictures are commonly used in corridors of residental complexes, industries and hospitals.
Also there are many fraudulent UVC devices on the market. Some of them are glowing bluish color and not radiating any UVC energy, other are UV LED based and due to poor chip efficiency, too weak for any effect at all. So you should always look for a proven UV-C device with all needed tests and certificates for safety and efficiency.
What are the key advantages of NUVTON compared to competition?
– sensor (SENSOTRONIQ)
– preconditioned calibrated lamp (BURNTEQ)
– smart handle
– optimized in house electronics (GTRONICS)
– TRUE UV-C disinfection dosage
What do certain technical terms related to NUVTON mean?
– BURNTEQ UV-C: every germicidal lamp needs at least 100 working hours to perform optimally at its nominal power, therefore we use our own BURNTEQ calibration process to precondition every UV-C lamp for 120 hours, so users can start to use product immediately at its optimal disinfection power
– SENSOTRONIQ intensity smart sensor: provides consistent UV-C output for proper disinfection results, so you can be sure you get the right amount of UV-C light to disinfect
– SMART HANDLE with inox button and integrated red-green light that indicates power (red for switched device), start-up process (blinking green) and optimal UV-C output (permanent green)
–TRUE UV-C: all unique features combined (SENSOTRONIQ, BURNTEQ, SMART HANDLE, G-TRONICS), enable true controlled UV-C output disinfection dosage for appropriate disinfection results at any time
– G-TRONICS industry standard electronics with our in-house made electronic board optimization for further enhancement of devices
– QUADRA FLECT – special UV reflective material behind the lamp to maximise the UV-C reflection
– WINGCUT UV-C CUT OFF OPTICS – special design cuts at edge of device to aim the UV-C light only where needed
– HEKSAGUARD HONEYCOMB – honeycomb UV-C protection mesh in front of the lamp, that protects the lamp and allows the maximum UV-C light to come out of device
Does UV-C have any negative effect on materials?
With appropriate operational usage of NUVTON® it has almost no effect on materials because dosages are applied in very short spikes in seconds. Even in more extensive prolonged usage of NUVTON sterilizer it has more than 1000 times less effect on materials compared to chemical disinfection.
What I need to know to safely use the product?
Similar prevention is needed as with protecting skin and eyes against sun.
As you should never look into the sun and should not expose your skin to sun for longer periods of time without protection, same is with UV-C as UV-C is like highly concentrated sun dosage. Eyes and skin should never be directly exposed to UV-C light. Usage of gloves and visor or glasses is recommended. NUVTON includes the gloves and visor in its NUVTON sets.
Device should not be used on plants and animals.
