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Germ-O-Ray Air Disinfection Fixtures are used to sanitize and disinfect air from airborne contaminants, pathogens and microorganisms. As concerns increase about indoor air quality, Germ-O-Ray fixtures are an integral part of any indoor air quality effort.
WHY SHOULD INDOOR AIR QUALITY BE A CONCERN?
Indoor Air Quality is of increasing importance. Today's buildings are designed with central heating and air-conditioning systems. With elaborate air duct systems, an entire building's air supply is continuously recirculated, over and over and over again. Should an infectious element such as a cold or flu virus or even tuberculosis be introduced to this recirculating cycle, then an entire building's occupants could be at risk of exposure.
This concern is strikingly important when one considers the variety of microorganisms that can survive and thrive within an air handling system. Typically, these microorganisms exist within a host who will inadvertently introduce them into the environment. Something as simple as a cough or a sneeze will contain numerous droplet nuclei that act as a pathogen's airborne vehicle. Once airborne, the pathogen can travel freely through a building's air handling system to any and all occupants.
HOW DO GERM-O-RAY FIXTURES HELP?
Germ-O-Ray fixtures address the shortcomings of standard indoor air quality treatments such as filters. Filters typically trap and remove airborne particles such as dust and other nonmicrobial allergens. Unfortunately, filters cannot capture and eliminate airborne pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and molds. Germ-O-Ray fixtures address this problem by employing the special properties of ultraviolet light to eliminate airborne microorganisms from an air handling system. Germ-O-Ray fixtures are used either alone or in conjunction with standard indoor air treatments like air filters.
WHAT IS ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT?
Ultraviolet light is part of the full light spectrum radiated by the sun. This spectrum is comprised of varying light classifications such as Infrared, Visible Light and Ultraviolet.
Each of these classifications is defined by a particular wavelength.Ultraviolet light registers in a range of wavelengths from 400 nanometers (a wavelength measurement) to just below 100 nanometers (nm).
Within this range, ultraviolet (UV) light is divided into subclasses longwave (UVA), middlewave (UVB), and shortwave (UVC).
Each of these wavelengths has a number of different applications from dermatology to fibre-optic curing to insect attraction to air disinfection.
And for any specific application, there is a specific wavelength that is most effective.
For air disinfection, the most effective wavelength is found at 254 nanometers.
Germ-O-Ray Air Disinfection Fixtures are specifically designed to concentrate UVC light at that level.
HOW DOES ULTRAVIOLET (UVC) LIGHT DISINFECT?
Simply put, UVC LIGHT LITERALLY STERILIZES MICROORGANISMS. This results in an organism that cannot reproduce and is rendered virtually harmless. UVC energy can destroy DNA in up to 99% of all airborne pathogens. Sterilization is achieved when microorganisms are exposed to UVC light energy for a specific amount of time. During that exposure, UVC energy penetrates the microorganism's outer cell structure and alters the cell's DNA. The altered DNA prevents cell replication, effectively causing the cell to die.
HOW EFFECTIVE IS THIS CONTROL?
UVC disinfectants have been employed for decades. Following World War II, healthcare facilities readily relied on UVC fixtures to help battle the spread of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. From these early health care applications, other installations quickly followed. Today, UVC fixtures are common in a wide array of places: homes and offices... food and beverage processors... laboratories and clean rooms... water treatment facilities... doctors' offices... prisons or holding cells... airports... almost anyplace a concern for clean air exists.
ARE GERM-O-RAY PRODUCTS SAFE?
Germ-O-Ray products are safety-tested by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory [NRTL].
It should be noted that prolonged exposure to UVC light
is not recommended. It can cause irritation of both eyes and skin.
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