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stoly ,

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.

viking ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

In the US maybe, elsewhere it's common and accessible. Here in China it's commonplace in home water filters and air purifiers for instance. I can also buy endless UV-C LED strips and do with it whatever I please.

Dead_or_Alive ,

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.

DragonAce ,

IIRC, they have UV sterilizers for central HVAC systems. So while it may not sterilize surfaces, it will kill all airborne pathogens.

atthecoast ,

The UV there is mostly to keep the inverter coils free of mould. Air typically flows too fast to be meaningfully disinfected.

SteveDinn ,
@SteveDinn@lemmy.ca avatar

This is why.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/6/23948464/bored-ape-nft-event-eye-injury-sunburn-uv-exposure

lud ,

Who the hell thought that an NFT festival was a good idea and unprotected UV lights?

Maybe the organisers were exposed to gamma radiation lwhen they thought up the event.

yum_burnt_toast ,
@yum_burnt_toast@reddthat.com avatar

i imagine theres a lot of overlap.

gramie ,

I could see UV light also causing plastics to oxidize and become brittle much faster, because they might not be made for that kind of exposure. So using UV light might mean having to replace a lot of plastic things too.

MojoMcJojo ,

Exactly, yes! Pretty much everything when left out in direct sunlight eventually fades or breaks down. There's a reason why UV light kills germs, it damages what is touches.

L0rdMathias ,

Imagine writing this headline in a universe where daylight exists rofl.

stoly ,

It's not as if every part of your house has exposure to direct sunlight. They aren't made for use in houses, though. Think more like hospital rooms or classrooms on a cycle when nobody is around.

deranger ,

There are UV light robots at my hospital that drive into rooms and blast it with high power UVB for 15 minutes or so to help disinfect.

curiousaur ,

Because it burns you. That's the answer. It kills your skin cells and eyes the same way it kills the bacteria. Also, it is everywhere, it's fucking outside. The sun. Fucking stupid. Idiots.

Know what else kills bacteria? Bleach. So get chugging.

So stupid.

frezik ,

Read the article. These problems are addressed.

Buffalox ,

At this point, it’s clear that in small-scale settings, far-UV can kill the vast majority of pathogens present, which in turn would vastly reduce the risk of respiratory disease spread. It seems safe for human skin, and likely safe for human eyes, too.

Luckily we are more thick skinned than a bacteria, who would have thought?

Dadifer ,

Um, I'm going to copy a comment I made elsewhere:

Dude, read the article. The whole point is it uses shorter wavelengths so it doesn't penetrate your skin or cornea.

Unlike me with your mom.

onlyhalfminotaur ,

Imagine not reading the article and having this much confidence in your terrible response.

BreadOven ,

Not necessarily agreeing with the article posted, but for all the people who clearly didn't read the article:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-08462-z

That's just one paper I found searching for far-UV. Seems to be many more.

Again not saying it's 100 % safe or anything, but it looks promising.

SeabassDan ,

Bleach kills AIDS, doesn't mean you can inject it into your bloodstream and be okay.

sunbeam60 ,

Supposing you brought the light into the body?! Are you going to test it?

SeabassDan ,

They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, it would have to go in through there.

IzzyScissor ,

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.

frezik ,

This thread might be the worst example of "I didn't read the article, but I'll comment anyway" that I've seen.

Tristaniopsis ,

Yeah but ducks shouldn’t do that!!!!

(I didn’t even read the headline)

AI_toothbrush ,

If it kills all the viruses it also kills you lol

devfuuu ,

Good news everyone!

Dadifer ,

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the moderator]

    •
    AI_toothbrush ,

    O3

    tastysnacks ,

    You know, his mom had multiple holes you could use instead.

    Dadifer ,

    Aaaaaayyyy, you got me

    learningduck ,

    Yeah UV light alone is safe, but by the end of the article it mentioned that far-UV light also triggers a chemical reaction that creates ozone, which is dangerous. It needs a good ventilator system to make it safer.

    JustZ ,
    @JustZ@lemmy.world avatar

    I've been using both a dedicated Ozone generator in unoccupied rooms and a UV sanitizing light built into the HVAC system. Seems to be improving allergies.

    FiskFisk33 ,

    UV-A is quite safe, UV-B are the harmful wavelengths that cause the harmful effects of sunlight, UV-C is much worse.
    The light that kills viruses, UV-C quickly damages your eyes quite severely, and also burns your skin and can cause skin cancer far, far faster than UV-B.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet#Harmful%20effects

    Nindelofocho , (edited )

    UVC, the kind that kills pathogens harms the skin and eyes and creates ozone. The article talks about using “Upper Room UV” which is just lights posted a safe distance away from humans above them which makes it considerably less effective at killing pathogens at the human level and also now theres a whole area of space where you cant go without risking harm from UVC like being on a ladder or some other platform.

    UV also degrades lots of materials a lot faster

    Edit: I meant Upper Room UV bot Far UV

    Dadifer ,

    Far UV refers to the wavelength, not distance from humans.

    Nindelofocho ,

    You’re correct. I meant to say Upper Room UV, I edited it

    Womble ,

    but it kills viruses!

    laurelraven ,

    That's exactly what I thought it would be

    Socsa ,

    Shadows.

    mariusafa , (edited )

    UV light kills almost all viruses because it's ionizing EM radiation. So it also fucks humans up, xd. I mean just stay on sunlight naked for a day. Your body will be so happy. All the mutations from ionizing radiation would be great.

    But yeah we life in a society where ppl is scared of Radiofrequency EM waves (non-ionizing), "dangerous cell phone towers, wifi dangerous". That same people recomends staying long periods of time with direct sunlight contact without protection (yeah we need protection because sunlight spectrum has UV and higher freq ionizing radiation).

    Sunlight healthy/radio waves dangerous, that is the most stupid statement ever.

    Sunlight is beneficial in small dosis because of how we syntetise vitamins (as little as i know). But remeber if you are scared of microwaves, remeber that sunlight has much more higher freq(higher energy) waves.

    CatZoomies , (edited )
    @CatZoomies@lemmy.world avatar

    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.

    CatZoomies , (edited )
    @CatZoomies@lemmy.world avatar

    "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

    shalafi ,

    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.

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