How Does UV Light Sterilization Work?

The entire UVC range of ultraviolet radiation is germicidal and falls into a subset of light called Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI). UVGI is an environmentally friendly way of disrupting, mutating and breaking apart the DNA and RNA of bacteria, viruses and a majority of fungal pathogens—consequently destroying their ability to multiply and cause disease. The two factors that directly influence how effective UV light sterilization is when using it as a biosecurity tool are time of exposure and UV light intensity. The amount of time UVC is exposed to any given pathogen is proportional to the amount of killing or inactivation it does. The fluorescent-based light tubes in the BioShift® Pass-Through UV Chamber emit UVC light at 254 nm wavelength, which is in the range for optimal pathogen killing.