Due to growing international interest in the use of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to manage the risk of COVID-19 transmission, the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) recently published a Position Statement, which follows two CIE publications related to UV-C applications that were made available for free.
This new CIE position statement summarizes these two publications while offering the most recent insights in this field, explaining the most important aspects around the use of UV, particularly UV-C. Key take-away points include:
- UV-C is extremely useful in disinfection of air and surfaces or sterilization of water. However, CIE and WHO warn against the use of UV to disinfect hands or any other area of skin (WHO, 2020).
- UV-C can be very hazardous to humans and animals and should only be used in carefully controlled circumstances using well-designed products, ensuring that the limits of exposure as specified in ICNIRP (2004) and IEC/CIE (2006) are not exceeded. However, the risk of skin cancer from devices that emit only UV-C is considered negligible.
- UV-C can cause photodegradation of materials and this should be considered where susceptible materials, such as plastics, are in the exposed environment.
- More research is urgently needed on the safety aspects of new UV-C sources, especially with respect to safety thresholds to avoid photokeratitis (”sunburn” of the cornea).
- For proper UV assessment and risk management, appropriate UV measurements are essential.
- UV-C products aimed at general consumers may not be safe to use or may not be effective for disinfection.
The CIE Position Statement can be downloaded from the CIE Website.
Also check out the CIE recommendations for healthy indoor light conditions and the use of proper light at the proper time to optimally benefit from light’s non-visual effects on sleep, health and wellbeing.
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