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My husband found this article: We Could Prevent Future Pandemics By Switching On A New Type Of Light
And he tracked down one of these lamps. Not cheap (and not pretty), but interesting: QNICEUVC 35W 222nm far uvc light vaccine disinfection mercury free excimer lamp human and machine coexistence|Ultraviolet Lamps| - AliExpress Unlike earlier UVC lights, this claims not to cause burns and eye irritation/blindness.
We haven’t tried it.
A less expensive, less obtrusive means for disinfection is ozone shock treatment, which is empirically found to kill viruses and bacteria (and anything else that uses oxygen to survive). We use this method between guests as the last stage in our cleaning routine. In our 400 sq ft studio, we run a 10,000 mg/hr generator for 1/2 hour with a fan to circulate the ozone. Nothing that uses oxygen for survival can be in the place at the time, but the air is breathable within 40 minutes after the treatment. It will kill viruses and bacteria on any soft or hard surface that the air will reach.
You are incorrect. You can’t “kill” a virus, because it isn’t a living organism. Viruses do not require oxygen to remain active, because they do not breathe. And they actually do not remain active for long without a host to infect, which is why all the Covid cleaning is largely theatre based on the fact that so little was known about Covid in the beginning.
The ozone generator may indeed deactivate the virus, but not for the reasons you cite.
Thank you for sharing this.
I have guests right now who are immune-compromised and they use a UV light.
I found a useful link: Could ozone be an effective disinfection measure against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)? - PMC
It looks like there is a role both for ozone generators and UV devices: " Ozone can, therefore, be used for the treatment of potentially contaminated surfaces, water, and ambient air thanks to its powerful germicidal effect on a wide spectrum of microorganisms, while it has been shown that on porous materials, such as textiles, it is less effective [10], unlike disinfection with UV lamps (UVGI) that are more effective on these materials [9](Fig. 1)."
The article says that ozone can ‘inactivate’ viruses.
AliExpress is where he sourced it: I use AliExpress quite often but only for things whose soundness I don’t care about. I have been doing business with China for 20 years: with AliExpress you have no idea of what you are actually getting. It’s perfect for cheapie items that you don’t care about such as key rings, flashlights or cheap gifts. But for a UV light I’d buy from a reputable company.
It is also possible to buy combination fans and UV lights, that sanitize air as it goes through the fans.
Be aware that, if you don’t use it the right way, you can destroy your pupils. Imho a great tool but you need to know how to use it.
Sources
Here is what with FDA says about UV sanitation (it’s mostly good): UV Lights and Lamps: Ultraviolet-C Radiation, Disinfection, and Coronavirus | FDA
Popular Mechanics best 10 (some are interesting to our purposes): The 10 Best UV Sanitizers in 2021 - UV Sanitizer Devices
RollingStone Top 10: Best UV Sanitizers for Covid-19: Does UV Light Kill the Coronavirus? - Rolling Stone
The one I’d get: UV-C disinfection lighting | Philips lighting
A friend of mine, who is an emergency room doctor, swears by UV lights.
The far-UVC lights were installed in some places in 2020 (Bluestone Lane Is First NYC Café Chain to Install Far-UVC) . It’s been touted as the long-term solution to sterilizing air in all kinds of places. The UV lights that are common now are dangerous to your eyes, so they can only be used when rooms (buses, etc) are empty, but the new ones are supposed to be able to run 24/7.