All bacteria and viruses tested to date (many hundreds over the years, including various coronaviruses) respond to UV-C disinfection.¹ Therefore implementing UV-C disinfection technology can reduce the risk of spreading and contracting a whole range of viruses and bacteria.

¹ Source: Philips. Fluence (UV Dose) Required to Achieve Incremental Log Inactivation of Bacteria, Protozoa, Viruses and Algae Revised, updated and expanded by Adel Haji Malayeri, Madjid Mohseni, Bill Cairns and James R. Bolton. With earlier contributions by Gabriel Chevrefils (2006) and Eric Caron (2006) With peer review by Benoit Barbeau, Harold Wright (1999) and Karl G. Linde

As with all our products and services, safety is our first priority and when specified, installed and used correctly, the use of UV-C lighting for disinfection as part of a multi-disinfection strategy is perfectly safe. 

It is important the solutions are appropriately considered according to the individual requirements of each setting, and our trained lighting specifiers are experienced at matching the right product with the right setting to ensure both optimal results and to provide complete reassurance around safety. 

The UV-C elements within our stand alone products - including our portable air units and disinfection chambers - are housed within sealed units that ensure safe use at all times. 

Our upper air and active air solutions are carefully specified and installed by our qualified installation team to deliver appropriate, bespoke specification and installation for your setting, ensuring they are safe to use. 

The Marwood team ensure that all our UV-C products can be operated in line with the relevant safety standards. Further information on these standards is shown below: 

All electrical devices must fulfil the electrical, thermal, mechanical, human exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) and photobiological safety requirements provided in International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards and UV-C devices must additionally meet:

• the UV-C safety product standard IEC 60335-2-65 in case of “Closed” air purification devices with a forced airflow through the contained UVGI compartment in the device (like our Active-Air and UVCA200 devices).

or

• the UV-C safety specification IEC PAS 63313 in combination with the UV-C safety application standard ISO15858 in case of “Open” air disinfection devices which safely distribute the UVGI in the well-defined upper room area of the room (like our ceiling or wall-mounted upper room devices).

Other than that, the products are designed to meet the normal CE / UKCA product certification.

UV-C light disinfection has been used safely and effectively in specialist settings for over 40 years, so there is significant data to support the technology that now enables these benefits to be deployed in day to day settings. 

UV-C light is helpful as it is extremely effective in breaking down the DNA and RNA of micro-organisms, so that they cannot replicate and cause disease.

In laboratory testing, Signify’s UV-C light sources reduced SARS-CoV-2 virus infectivity on a surface to below detectable levels in as few as 9 seconds.

Our Philips UV-C disinfection upper air wall mount luminaires inactivated 99.99% of SARS-COV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 disease, in the air of a room within 10 minutes. At 20 minutes, the virus was below detectable.²

² Source: Philips. According to results obtained from a laboratory test conducted by Innovative Bioanalysis, a CAP, CLIA, AABB Certified Safety Reference Laboratory, in a room with sufficient air circulation.

UV-C can safely be used in most workplaces and public settings, including: 

• Education: Nurseries, schools, colleges and Universities
• Retail: Shops, banks and food outlets
• Fitness and wellbeing: Hair and beauty salons, gyms and indoor sporting venues
• Hospitality: Restaurants and washrooms
• Sports and Events: Communal indoor spaces, bars, restaurants, venues.
• Travel: Airports, waiting spaces and vehicles
• Office: Offices and factories

Our UV-C lighting solutions are not certified or approved as a medical device, so should never be used as such and should therefore not be used in a clinical setting.

Carefully tailoring and matching the right UV-C lighting solution to your specific workplace is an important part of ensuring the safe, effective deployment of this technology.

In order to ensure this, Marwood will undertake a survey in person as required, or provide advice and guidance through the appropriate application. Certain physical characteristics of buildings, such as ceiling heights and room size and use, will naturally inform the specification of the correct product. For instance, the popular upper air UV-C lighting solution can only be installed in rooms with ceiling heights of around 2.4m or higher, however we have many alternative solutions that could work for your organisation. One of our experienced and qualified lighting specifiers will guide you on this.

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UV-C lighting technology has been used safely in specialist settings for over 40 years and through a new, exciting range of products is now accessible to a broader range of organisations to take advantage of this technology and provide safer, cleaner environments for all users. 

UV-C lighting technology works by significantly reducing the levels of microorganisms and viruses in the air and on surfaces, that impact workplaces and education settings, thus positively impacting the number of infections that are likely in these environments.

With all UV-C lighting installations, Marwood’s experienced team ensure appropriate specification and qualified fitting, meeting all required Health and Safety and regulatory standards.

This will depend upon the solution that is recommended. Our portable solutions are ‘plug and play’ so can simply be installed in the agreed location and put into use immediately, following the user guidelines provided with the unit. 

Our upper air solutions will be installed for you by our approved installers, to ensure the application is applied exactly per the specification and can be signed off once installation is complete.

For object disinfection (Tablets, keys, shared devices), the chambers are ‘plug and play’ so can simply be installed in the agreed location and put into use immediately, following the user guidelines provided with the unit.

Our surface disinfection solutions will be installed for you by our approved installers, to ensure the UV-C products and controls are applied exactly per the specification and can be signed off once installation is complete.

Over time, it is possible that UV-C radiation may cause the photo-degradation of materials within the room, such as plastics, paints and textiles. This should therefore be considered as part of the installation process.

The maintainable element within the system are the UV-C lamps and filters. Philips UV-C solutions have a usable lamp and filter life of 9000 hours and are replaceable at end of life. Marwood can discuss a maintenance regime with you as we guide you through the process.