How to use a UVC germicidal lamp SAFELY.

It's become very clear that a lot of people have been buying UVC germicidal lamps from online sellers without really understanding how to use them or that they can cause serious skin and eye damage just by exposure. Here's a simple guide to using them safely.

To sterilise a room place the lamp in a holder that will ensure that as much light as possible falls on the surfaces to be sanitised. If you put it in a table or ceiling lamp with a shade it may block most of the useful output. These lamps usually produce a lot of ozone (active oxygen) which will permeate everything and smells a bit like bleach.

Turn on the light and leave the room immediately. Make sure no humans or pets can enter the room while the lamp is lit.

Leave the lamp running for 30 minutes or more depending on the size of the room.

Enter the room and turn the lamp off immediately. Then leave the room for another 30 minutes to let the level of ozone reduce. The smell of the ozone may linger for days at a low level.

Remove the lamp and re-box. It's VERY important that the lamp and the box it's in are clearly marked to show that it is dangerous to be exposed to or look at. Store it in a safe place where kids can't find it.

The ability to sterilise a room is dependant on the volume of the room, obstructions between the light and surfaces, the power of the lamp and time. These lamps can't guarantee to protect against infection, but can help in some instances.

If you do expose your skin for long enough you will get an irritating rash or burn like sunburn. Treat as sunburn unless it's very severe.

If anyone looks at the lamp for too long with unprotected eyes the surface of the eye will be damaged and lead to an effect called arc flash, arc eye, welders flash or corneal keratitis which is often experienced by welders. After a length of time you will feel like you have sand in your eyes. It will heal up after a few days, but if in doubt seek medical attention and explain what happened.

Wearing glasses may offer some protection to your eyes, but shouldn't be a reason to expose yourself to the light.

Ignore the misleading pictures and videos from sellers who imply that you can use these lamps to sanitise your dogs fur, show pictures of the lamp next to babies or have videos of people holding the lamps. If they are actual UVC lamps then all those things pose a serious risk.

If you want to make a sterilising enclosure then you could use a cupboard or box with one of these lamps mounted inside it. UVC can't pass through ordinary glass although you can still see the blue light also emitted by these lamps. A professional unit would have a safety switch on the door that would cut the lamp off when the door is opened. If no switch is used then everyone MUST be aware not to open the cabinet when the lamp is on.

The only maintenance required for these lamps is to occasionally clean greasy fingerprints off them with an alcohol wipe. They should last a long time in intermittent use.

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