Barbershop Curiosity
Sometime back before we were all in lock-down, I recall sitting and waiting patiently for my turn at the barbershop. The room ran high with emotions as we watched with baited breathe on how the premier league match was playing out, everyone, including the barber, who tried to stay focused on his client, cheered as they saw their team score. “Bets have probably been won”, I said it under my breath, but in the midst of it all, I was only drawn to a device that carried all the shaving equipment the owner of the shop used. The deep blue colour drew me in like a charmer playing a tune to a snake, and I asked, “ what is this for?”, a bit distracted by the match and my out of the topic question and without a second glance, “ to prevent germs”, his choice of words were not good but I got what it meant.
CURIOSITY SPARK
“How is this even possible?”, the thought rang in my head, even when I was finally getting my haircut, and being a physics graduate, I decided to do what satisfies the thirst to know, research.
Three months down the line pass and but I did not live up to the challenge with all the happenings in the world, then one day as I browsed through various videos I saw the technology being utilized in the subway trains in New-York, and the same feeling engulfed me to the brim. What makes the UV light so useful in killing germs or any other form of pathogen? well, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to light.
Our loyal Ozone Layer
It does seem like a wide assumption, but you have to be under a rock if you have not heard of climate change, and the one thing that protects us from the harmful rays of the sun is the ozone layer.
Apparently, the visible light from the sun is only a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and as the rays enter the earth, they are scattered or absorbed by water vapour or other atmosphere particles. Focusing on the ultraviolet light, it is divided into A, B and C with C being the one that is filtered out in the ozone layer. If not it would lead to other medical conditions ranging but not limited to skin cancer. From this, we see that the UVC light is the one that is currently been used to kill the deadly and harmful pathogens in this device, and currently been used in the subway systems all over the world to deal with COVID19. Albeit very dangerous on the human skin and under no circumstances should it be used on one.
UV-C and Pathogens
UV disinfection systems with a utilize the UV-C radiation with a wavelength of 100–280nm, and with such properties, it is able to destroy the molecular bonds, therefore, disrupting the DNA and RNA via pyrimidine dimerization, therefore causing the death of some environmental micro-organisms. Very simple and effective.
Why UV-C?
Its application has been very effective especially in hospitals against other standard disinfectants, hence stopping germicidal disinfection that operate on a broad spectrum, secondly, it gets to the spot where most staff are unable to reach.
In regards to SARS-CoV-2 virus, it has not yet been specifically tested for its ultraviolet susceptibility, but based on the reactions from other coronaviruses like SARs they have concluded that it is highly susceptible to ultraviolet reaction(https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339887436_2020_COVID-19_Coronavirus_Ultraviolet_Susceptibility).
When all has been said and done, I have finally realized why we have the UV sanitizers in the barbershop. From one curious mind to another I can’t wait to see what other random gadgets hold.