UV sanitizing wands and cases have proliferated in online selling platforms such as eBay and Amazon. There is no conclusive evidence of their effectivity in decontaminating against the Coronavirus.
As more information is known about the Coronavirus, even more misinformation is spreading too. This is why online media companies have taken the lead in curbing its spread.
Facebook and its subsidiary companies have taken a hard stance against misinformation. WhatsApp particularly has implemented rules in which chain messages are stopped from being shared largely.
Google, on the other hand, has invested heavily in an information center about the Coronavirus.
These companies have to implement such measures because there are people that take advantage of people’s fears. At the end of it all, some people just want to make profits out of the fear of people.
An example of this is the widespread sales of UV sanitizing wands and cases.
UV lights are germ-killing lights
When exposed to UV, generally, germs breakdown and lose their chemical bonds. It does this by disrupting the DNA/RNA compositions of bacteria.
Some hospitals actually use UV lights to disinfect rooms after they are used for operation or admission. Although the UV lights used by hospitals and normal households are the same, the scale by which they implement this is different.
The UV lights used in hospitals are attached to robots that are left in the rooms to disinfect for a period of time. These robots do a 360 degree disinfecting. The store-bought UV lights are just 10-12 inches long and work only on one side of the wand.
Just with inference alone, when a normal person wants to disinfect a room, he has to spend a considerable amount of time to cover ground. Whereas in hospitals, this is done by a robot.
UV lights pose harmful threats to humans
When listening to sunglasses and skin protection lotions, it can always be heard that we have to protect against UV rays from the sun.
People are not advised to look at the sun because of the UV rays directly. Our skins also have to be protected from the UV rays of the sun by applying sunblock lotions.
The same goes for the use of UV light wands and cases. The more exposure a person gets from the UV light wands, the more damage it can do a person.
It has also been proven that continuous exposure to UV light can cause cancer. It is not something to be taken lightly. Prolonged exposure to UV light can cause sunburn or irreversible damage to the eyes.
Therefore, when disinfecting with these light wands, the person using them must be protected with proper gears starting with protective eyewear and gloves.
Until such time the government or any health agency confirms the effective use of UV light wands; regular households should continue using hand sanitizers and alcohols instead.
Image courtesy of Noah Matteo/ Unsplash