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Does UV Light Work To Prevent The Spread Of COVID-19?
CBS Los Angeles ^ | 9/11/20 | CBSLA Staff

Posted on 09/12/2020 4:07:36 AM PDT by Mozilla

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – As the battle against the coronavirus pandemic continues, many companies are touting products that claim to kill dangerous pathogens in the air, or on surfaces, using ultraviolet light.

However, questions remain regarding how effective these products — from lamps to wands — can actually be at preventing the spread of the infection. Scientists are warning consumers to beware of false claims.

On a hot August day, Goettl technician Brian Jimenez climbs into an attic in a Simi Valley home to install a UV light in the air conditioning unit. Jimenez says the tiny UV light will reduce the amount of bacteria or viruses circulating in the air.

“Once the pandemic occurred, we saw a huge rise in filtration, UV lights, any products that are used to reduce amount of allergens and viruses,” Jimenez said.

Homeowner Eric Hoff told CBSLA his peace of mind was worth the cost to install.

“The coronavirus made me, kind of pushed me, to getting it done, just because I wanted everyone to be safe,” Hoff said.

USC engineer Andrea Armani and her lab team created a UV radiation system of their own to give to the USC Keck School of Medicine at the height of the pandemic.

“In my research lab we developed, like a plastic bin, that just has a UV source mounted on side, and it can hold, it’s an 18-gallon bin, like a plastic bin that you can buy at Lowe’s,” Armani said.

She created 55 disinfectant bins to help sanitize personal protective equipment and other medical equipment. She provided CBSLA a photo of a petri dish which she says shows how UV light can kill the exposed bacteria.

The right side of this petri dish shows bacteria which has been killed by UV light. August 2020. (Credit: USC engineer Andrea Armani)

“So I think this is a really good way to tackle coronavirus,” Armani said.

Armani says places like hospitals, prior to the pandemic, had already been using this particular spectrum of light — which is called UVC — to kill off contaminants. However, she warns people can easily be duped into buying a product that don’t work.

“All of these wavelengths, you can’t see with your eye, so you’ve no way of telling if your lightbulb is actually the right wave length,” Armani said. “So it was recently on a YouTube video, it’s called the banana test.”

The banana test involves holding the UVC light directly over the skin of a banana for a couple of seconds and if it turns brown, then it works.

Armani alleges there are products out there that do work.

“We really need to think about UVC as kind of being within our suite, our tool box, of ways of killing coronaviruses,” Armani said.

However, Armani cautions that UVC light is dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.

Goettl, meanwhile, said the price of installing UV light varies depending on the size of your home or your service contract.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: chinavirus; coronavirus; covid19; health; uvlight
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Trump once brought this technology up in a presser and got hammered for it. Now it is expanding.
1 posted on 09/12/2020 4:07:36 AM PDT by Mozilla
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To: Mozilla

When I bought a new condenser from a FL ac company they thru in a free uv light. I haven’t installed it yet. Skeptical of the benefits and the quality of the light - looks to be a China product.

Maybe I will try the bananna test with it.


2 posted on 09/12/2020 4:16:44 AM PDT by reviled downesdad (Some of the lost will never believe the Truth.)
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To: Mozilla

I don’t know the details, but wouldn’t sunlight contain those frequencies.

You know, the kind of light you’re exposed to when they finally deign to let you watch your kids play outdoor sports?


3 posted on 09/12/2020 4:18:38 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: Mozilla
Like anything else Covid, probably helps somewhat but studies are absent, inconclusive or suppressed by the media.
If Trump is for it, then it becomes controversial.

4 posted on 09/12/2020 4:18:42 AM PDT by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty.)
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To: Mozilla

I bought several GOOD uv-c lights in early February. Gave two to my kids (they never use them) and two for me. The first one still works. Use it to decon shoes and other items.

Lots of fake ones out there now - so beware.

My best purchase was an ozone gas generator. Then I bought another one, and spare parts.

Leaving items out to dry or in the sun or heat accomplishes the same thing. These tools just help speed up the process.

One DOES have to be careful with both of them. The UVC is used in a closed room with a homemade box lined with tin-foil. The ozone generator is placed in a bin outside or the trunk of the car with groceries.

They are developing/ have developed UV lights that will destroy the virus but is not harmful to people. That is still in the works iirc. Maybe some places have it, but I’m not sure.

The good UVC lights for sale now are something like 300x more powerful than the sun so will damage your eyes and skin.

Both technologies have been used for years on the regular flu bug, which has the same type of protective envelope as a coronavirus.


5 posted on 09/12/2020 4:18:53 AM PDT by 21twelve (Ever Vigilant. Never Fearful!)
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To: Mozilla

I read months ago that UVC light was very effective against the virus. I don’t know if I can find the article again, but it said to NOT take the shopping cart inside. Take the one outside in the corral.

On another point, I don’t think this person invented anything, but utilized a discussion on an abandoned patent from 2005.

Shopping cart sanitizing, disinfecting and cleaning system and method of use
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20060186358A1/en


6 posted on 09/12/2020 4:19:41 AM PDT by EBH (This had better be the last time I vote like my entire life depended on it.)
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To: Mozilla
Another thing to know about UV lights is that they have a relatively short life.

The high energy of the UV light that kills bacteria also frost the glass of the light over time reducing its ability transmit light through the glass.

Make sure you look in to the expected life span of the UV light and factor that in to the affordability of the unit.

7 posted on 09/12/2020 4:20:55 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirs)
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To: reviled downesdad

I built a UVc light box for my home.

Took a plastic tub, lined it with metal foil tape. When the bulb is used you can smell the ozone being generated quite strongly in the box.
Keep it in my garage.

When I get home from work I toss my stethoscope , keys, shows , pen, googles into the box, strip and go right to the shower. So far so good.


8 posted on 09/12/2020 4:24:56 AM PDT by Kozak (DIVERSITY+PROXIMITY=CONFLICT)
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To: Kozak

Oh yeah, I see about 5 to 10 Covid positive patients a day in our clinic. So I KNOW I’m getting exposed.


9 posted on 09/12/2020 4:27:05 AM PDT by Kozak (DIVERSITY+PROXIMITY=CONFLICT)
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To: Kozak

The narrative is controlled by the media and the liberal rat experts.They throw in science when it is convenient and also God in a last ditch effort to convince you. Of coarse if trump says its good, its bad


10 posted on 09/12/2020 4:29:32 AM PDT by ronnie raygun ( Massive mistakes are made by arrogant fools; massive evils are committed by evil people.")
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To: reviled downesdad

“Maybe I will try the bananna test with it.”

Yup, just run the light over the banana, wait 10 days and see if it turns brown.


11 posted on 09/12/2020 4:31:19 AM PDT by Beagle8U (Slo-Joe Biden... puts the DEM in Dementia.)
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To: Kozak

Great idea!


12 posted on 09/12/2020 4:32:52 AM PDT by mad_as_he$$
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To: Mozilla

When I was a kid the rage was a blacklight. You never heard of someone coming down with covid.


13 posted on 09/12/2020 4:40:45 AM PDT by Lurkina.n.Learnin (With age comes wisdom or well practiced ignorance)
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To: Mozilla
Not much of an article. See article and comments on FR Can UV Light be used to kill airborne Flu Virus?

MONDAY, Feb. 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- As a particularly nasty flu season rages across the United States, scientists have found a powerful new disinfectant that makes "light" work of the virus. Researchers say a certain spectrum of ultraviolet light -- called far-UVC -- easily kills airborne flu viruses while posing no risk to people. It could offer a new, inexpensive way to eliminate airborne flu viruses in indoor public spaces such as hospitals, doctors' offices, schools, airports and aircraft, said the team from Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. The disinfecting success of initial experiments still need to be confirmed, said lead research David Brenner.

14 posted on 09/12/2020 4:46:36 AM PDT by daniel1212 (Trust the risen Lord Jesus to save you as a damned and destitute sinner + be baptized + follow Him)
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To: P.O.E.
"I don’t know the details, but wouldn’t sunlight contain those frequencies."

No. Those wavelengths are blocked by the oxygen content of the atmosphere (specifically the "ozone layer"). The UV that passes the ozone is of longer wavelength.

15 posted on 09/12/2020 4:50:08 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (No Longer Tolerating Trolls!)
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To: Pontiac
"Another thing to know about UV lights is that they have a relatively short life."

Some do, some don't. I used to be a spectroscopist and have used pretty much every light source out there, including UV ones.

"The high energy of the UV light that kills bacteria also frost the glass of the light over time reducing its ability transmit light through the glass."

Not true. But DO NOT touch the glass without wearing gloves, as the sodium content of skin contact WILL cause the quartz envelope to etch.

16 posted on 09/12/2020 4:55:56 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog (No Longer Tolerating Trolls!)
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To: Mozilla
Many folks with wells use UV light to kill germs in the water. "Old fashioned" electric clothes dryers often had UV lights for the same reason. Hang your clothes on the line in the sun for the same reason.
 
17 posted on 09/12/2020 4:57:03 AM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie (Guide me, O thou great redeemer, pilgrim through this barren land.)
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To: 21twelve

I use “Dry and Store” units for disinfecting my hearing aids nightly. Works great.


18 posted on 09/12/2020 4:58:34 AM PDT by Shady (It is the rule of law vs tyranny, plain and simple, and it is the fight of our lives...)
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To: daniel1212

I think some airlines use UV for “scrubbing” recirculated air. It’s actually a pretty old technology, relatively speaking, and I’m surprised more discussion isn’t given to its use in killing viruses in environments that use recirculated air or rely on air conditioning.


19 posted on 09/12/2020 5:01:26 AM PDT by livius
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To: 21twelve
My best purchase was an ozone gas generator. Then I bought another one, and spare parts.

Ditto that! I use mine once a month to decontaminate the house. GF uses it too.

We have a mutual friend who's daughter caught the China Virus somehow. As soon as she tested negative (twice) we took it to her house and decontaminated her home too. Gave her such peace of mind. I'm telling all my friends to buy the model I purchased. Ozone machines work!

20 posted on 09/12/2020 5:02:13 AM PDT by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
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