LIGHTING AND ILLUMINATION FEATURE
‘The regulatory landscape in air and surface disinfection isn’t well established, but there are new regulations coming in’
on their safety rating,’ said Fowler. ‘Excimer lamps can be safe for human exposure for longer periods of time, but not all are tested for safe use,’ she explained.
Improving knowledge As such, potential system buyers should educate themselves in the science and dangers of UV-C, potentially including equipping themselves with measurement equipment, said Andrea Stefkova, commercial operations and analytics manager at Ocean Insight. ‘UV-C is dangerous and should be treated with caution,’ she said. ‘Verifying the device output and asking the manufacturer for any certification of testing that they performed is necessary.’ UV-C light’s germicidal effects has seen it used in hospitals, water purification, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, plus food applications, Stefkova explained. Because UV-C is dangerous to humans, most applications are in enclosed spaces. Stefkova therefore welcomes the study showing that less hazardous far UV-C 222nm light does not penetrate mammalian
www.electrooptics.com | @electrooptics
cells, but can still disinfect coronavirus. The first International Conference on UV Disinfection for Air and Surfaces (ICUDAS) in December discussed the effectiveness and hazards of using UV-C for such purposes. Stefkova also noted that the International Ultra-Violet Association (IUVA), which ran ICUDAS, has published a fact sheet on UV disinfection for Covid-19. Such measures might address what Stefkova feels is a lack of knowledge of the technology. ‘This market experienced large growth due to Covid-19 and the regulatory measures are lagging,’ Stefkova said. ‘The regulatory landscape in air and surface
disinfection isn’t well established but there are new regulations coming into play.’ Stefkova explained that standards and
regulation are application specific, with compliance achieved by a combination of various standards, as there is no one all-encompassing standard. They mostly cover safety. Currently, many devices require CE certification or equivalent and Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for medical applications. A new part of IEC 62471 is also being drafted to cover photobiological safety. ‘IEC 62471-6 will list specific applications and precautions but it will still only mention the product,’ Stefkova said. ‘This part of the standard
g
UV sterilisation of a large area in action March 2021 Electro Optics 11
Ocean Insight
Ocean Insight
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50
