Rumbaoa, Marielle Ann, Pancho.

STEM 11- St. Stanislaus Kostka

Ultraviolet Lights/Lamps
(An alternative disinfectant for the virus)

The quality of the air we breathe, the water we drink and the cleanness of surfaces have a
profound effect on our health and well-being. We’re all at risk of contracting and spreading
viruses and bacteria, especially in busy public areas like the office, factory, store, bar or
restaurant, school, museum and on public transport. In today’s time, especially with the Covid-
19 Virus spreading worldwide, we all use different measures to avoid contracting the virus, in
people and things. So, we turned to use protective gears such as face masks and face shields.
Hand sanitizers and alcohol are also used for disinfecting items and ourselves in order to
eliminate any traces of the virus.
However is there any items that can be used as an alternate as a disinfectant? The use of
ultraviolet (UV) lights to disinfect room air and air streams dates to about 1900, in the present
time, we use them to disinfect the things that we normally touch on a daily basis whether if we
go out or when we had contact with possible cases and some things that are probably
contaminated by the virus and sometimes rooms the rooms that we occupy. Ultraviolet light is a
type of electromagnetic radiation that makes black-light posters glow, and is responsible for
summer tans — and sunburns. However, too much exposure to UV radiation is damaging to
living tissue.When people mention UV light, they often only talk about its damaging qualities –
but we benefit from UV radiation in different ways. The advantages that we can get for this item
are what follows: UV light impacts numerous metabolic processes in people, plants and animals.
But our digital way of life means we’re spending more time indoors and thus don’t see the
daylight all that much.
Ultraviolet Light has many features, today, ultraviolet light is widely used to disseminate
and eliminate bacteria, UV radiation is also commonly used in manufacturing processes, as well
as in medical and dental practices, for a variety of purposes, including bacteria killing,
fluorescent effects, curing inks and resins, photodynamic therapy, and sun tanning. UV
wavelengths and intensities are used for a variety of purposes.
In use for disinfecting, it is proven that ultraviolet radiation is a known for disinfectant
for air, water, and nonporous surfaces. Ultraviolet radiation has effectively been used for decades
to reduce the spread of bacteria, such as tuberculosis. For this reason, ultraviolet lamps are often
called "germicidal" lamps.

Although using Ultraviolet Lights has some benefits that we can get from, it also has it’s

Rumbaoa, Marielle Ann, Pancho.

STEM 11- St. Stanislaus Kostka
 Rumbaoa, Marielle Ann, Pancho.
STEM 11- St. Stanislaus Kostka

weaknesses and disadvantages. Ultraviolet (UV) lights should NOT be used to disinfect hands or
other areas of your skin. UV radiation can cause skin irritation and damage your eyes. Cleaning
your hands with alcohol-based hand rub or washing your hands with soap and water are the most
effective ways to remove the virus.

Some advantages/pros of using Ultraviolet Lights include; they stimulate Vitamin D

production which helps to vitalize bones, muscles and immune system, they also relieve
symptoms of some skin conditions such as Psoriasis and Tuberculosis. They are widely known
for responsible for pest control, they are beneficial in laboratory tools in generic experiments and
study of chemical structures. And have I ever mentioned that they are good for contaminated
things by the Covid-19 virus since they are also responsible for deactivating or destroying
microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria.
However, there are also disadvantages of using Ultraviolet Lights continuously and
frequently are: Skin damages - Wrinkles - Loss of elasticity due to collagen destruction by the
UV rays -Dark spots -Pigmentation -Skin cancer, skin cells damage sunburn, eye damage, and
damaged immune system. You can clearly see the great negative effects of UV lights,
particularly the effects to our SKIN. UV light is powerful to harm the skin, not only the top layer
but also the cell and the deepest layer of our skin. So, precaution is a must whenever we come
across this product.
Additionally, in recent studies, our skin makes vitamin D naturally when it is exposed to
UV ray. How much vitamin D you make depends on many things, including how old we are,
how dark our skin is, and how strong the sunlight is where we live. Vitamin D has many health
benefits. It might even help lower the risk of some cancers. At this time, doctors aren’t sure what
the optimal level of vitamin D is, but a lot of research is being done in this areas.
In closing, I only recommend the use of Ultraviolet light IF, and only if they control their
use of it and take excessive caution while using it. When they abuse the time that they always
use the Ultraviolet Lights, there might be consequences. Although there were some advantages
in using UV lights, especially if we use them for disinfecting our stuffs because of Covid-19
virus, we still must be careful, we wouldn’t want damages skin, eyes and immune system now,
do we? We must carefully think about the actions thaw we take if we use this item. So I only
want to remind the people who plans to buy this is to take extra precautions and do not
excessively use UV Lights. To summarize, I only suggest use of such ultraviolet light unless
people handle their use with great caution. If we're using this item, we should therefore seriously
reconsider the actions we follow.

Rumbaoa, Marielle Ann, Pancho.

STEM 11- St. Stanislaus Kostka