this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
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Ultraviolet light can kill almost all the viruses in a room. Why isn’t it everywhere?::Can special lightbulbs end the next pandemic before it starts?

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[–] EmergMemeHologram@startrek.website 218 points 9 months ago (12 children)

Without bothering to read the article, I look forward to sunburning my retinas like im at a crypto rave.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 69 points 9 months ago

To be fair, nobody complained about getting COVID from that event.

[–] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 24 points 9 months ago

The article does mention the issue of safety and how to address it actually

[–] pearable@lemmy.ml 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Joke aside, looks like they're using a higher bandwidth of light, 222nm compared to more common 254nm uv for medical uses. It doesn't penetrate the skin or eyes sufficiently to cause damage.

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[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 168 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (7 children)

Because the spectrum required (UV-C) to do so is harmful to humans and the environment. Putting it EVERYWHERE would cause all kinds of problems.

[–] linearchaos@lemmy.world 42 points 9 months ago (3 children)

The article blathers on for page after page after page talking about technology is back in the '60s and '70s, an experimental technology using UV wavelengths that supposedly don't bother humans. And systems that only point up in a room like the UV light isn't going to get reflected into your eyeballs. I get the feeling the author doesn't have much of a background and was really just trying to stitch a bunch of research together without really understanding most of it.

You can safely blast the shit out of central air ducts, but it doesn't do anything for infected breathing viruses into the air sitting next to you or the people that touched the bathroom door handle.

I suspect if we see any real non biased studies come out of any of this equipment the difference will be close to within the error bar.

[–] db2@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You're assuming it's not more "AI" nonsense though.

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[–] CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social 18 points 9 months ago

The article itself mentions solutions to the issue of it being harmful to humans, either by putting it at a distance in the ceiling or just running air ventilation through it, or choosing a specific spectrum that apparently doesn't seem to be harmful due to being blocked by the dead cell layer of one's skin. The environmental issue though also gets talked about, and is suggested to be more the problem.

[–] frezik@midwest.social 10 points 9 months ago

Just yesterday, I was defending Lemmy users by saying that they actually do read the article, but here we are.

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[–] weew@lemmy.ca 67 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (5 children)

"X can kill gems! Why don't we use X everywhere?"

X: Thing that can kill humans too. And/or cause cancer.

See also:

  • Fire

  • chlorine gas

  • dehydration

  • Boiling water

  • Radiation

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[–] bfg9k@lemmy.world 54 points 9 months ago (5 children)

"Hydroflouric Acid can kill almost all viruses in a bowl. Why aren't we eating it?"

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[–] jayandp@sh.itjust.works 40 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Because it's great at killing things, including human skin. Seriously, my local gym has people practically sign their life away before letting them into a UV-A/B tanning booth. No way are you putting the even worse UV-C bulbs out in public. That's how people got their retinas fried at a crypto conference in Hong Kong last year.

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[–] nutsack@lemmy.world 38 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (8 children)

cuz it literally burns your eye holes

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[–] frezik@midwest.social 35 points 9 months ago (4 children)

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

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[–] IzzyScissor@lemmy.world 29 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world 27 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] skillissuer@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 9 months ago (11 children)

Pretty counterintuitive that in order to make UV less dangerous for humans, you can make it more ionizing. Anyway, I'd expect problems with degradation/yellowing of plastics, bleaching of everything in range, and massive issues with indoor ozone and some other forms of air pollution

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[–] RaincoatsGeorge@lemmy.zip 26 points 9 months ago (2 children)

We use uv light stands in the hospital. We will shut down a room and run a uv sanitizer for a bit. It works in some instances but it's not exactly something you can just leave running all the time. Everyone would probably have a sick tan tho.. To go with their skin cancer..

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[–] SteveDinn@lemmy.ca 24 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] lud@lemm.ee 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works 22 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] stoly@lemmy.world 22 points 9 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] Wahots@pawb.social 21 points 9 months ago

Did anyone actually read the article? The only guy whose question wasn't already answered by the article was the one about yellowed plastics, lol.

[–] SlamWich@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Jeez, every response in here is about it burning your eyes. Thing is, people aren't in every room all the time. Have it set to a sensor, same as the lights, and you can quickly sanitize large spaces that are unoccupied. Elevators, airplanes, etc can be sanitized the second they're empty. My FIL is a retired GE engineer working on this technology.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 21 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Have it set to a sensor, same as the lights

Given how often the lights go out at work while I’m taking a dump, this isn’t the best idea.

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[–] piecat@lemmy.world 13 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Sounds dangerous

I have lights go out on me all the time at the office, just sitting mildly still. What happens if someone falls asleep in the room? Or worse a kid? Severe sunburn and possible blindness

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[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 20 points 9 months ago (3 children)

If it kills all the viruses it also kills you lol

[–] CatZoomies@lemmy.world 18 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

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@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

"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@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago

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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[–] SeabassDan@lemmy.world 17 points 9 months ago (2 children)

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

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[–] FiskFisk33@startrek.website 17 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

~~Because that is specifically UV-C and it's harmful to humans too. ~~

~~for example: https://wwd.com/eye/parties/hypebeast-party-uv-lights-injuries-11036559/~~

Correction: the article is about even smaller wavelength UV which is not as harmful to humans, my bad.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 16 points 9 months ago (4 children)

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@midwest.social 15 points 9 months ago

Read the article. These problems are addressed.

[–] Dadifer@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

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.

[–] Buffalox@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

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?

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[–] InevitableWaffles@midwest.social 14 points 9 months ago

I worked for a company that made a UVC light system for sterilization. The amount of safety you have to build in so people wont nuke themselves makes them hard to use.Also, the bulbs we used were delicate and had issues constantly.

[–] the_q@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If all humans died there wouldn't be anyone getting sick at all from anything!

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[–] Reddfugee42@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (2 children)

This thing kills all living things so why don't we bathe ourselves in it?

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[–] dugmeup@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Do you want Ultraviolet resistant viruses?

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Do you want tardigrades? Because this is how you get tardigrades.

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[–] asdfasdfasdf@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago

This is the dumbest shit. It kills all kinds of stuff, not just bad viruses. Homes are covered in bacteria which you've adapted to and are helpful. Kind of like gut bacteria, but outside your body. Killing all of them isn't a good idea.

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