HACKER Q&A
📣 sgroppino

Can aquarium UV lights be used to kill coronavirus?


The below paper suggests that with approx 2.4mWsec/cm2 it's possible to inactivate 99% of viruses. No specific mention of coronavirus, but could we use 13W aquarium UV lamps (are they UVC?) for an effective solution?

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chun_Chieh_Tseng/publication/239392662_Inactivation_of_Virus-Containing_Aerosols_by_Ultraviolet_Germicidal_Irradiation/links/54f823b80cf2ccffe9dce501/Inactivation-of-Virus-Containing-Aerosols-by-Ultraviolet-Germicidal-Irradiation.pdf

  👤 davismwfl Accepted Answer ✓
What's the usage idea?

UV sterilizers do work on most all viruses from what I understand but the issue is the the further from the light source the less effective it becomes and time, temperature and humidity are all factors which can affect the effectiveness. A UV-C light strong enough to clean a 100 sq ft room would be dangerous to humans so it could only be used as a sanitary item and not on all the time. At least as far as I understand it.

edit: just saw your usage idea. Not sure it would be doable and safe for humans but packages seems totally fair game.

👤 rolph
the overhead lamps are not what you want, you want the bulb for the UV sterilizer that is normally used for UVirradiation of water circulating through a manifold.

you dont want to use this as normal illumination, it is damaging to the eyes.

there is a system where microbiological labs are under constant intense illumination with UV while they are unoccupied. you would be doing something similar i suppose?

have look here as an example of what you would need to do a proper job:

https://www.light-sources.com/solutions/germicidal-uvc-lamps...

https://www.light-sources.com/solutions/germicidal-uvc-lamps...