International Ultraviolet Association Calls for Clear Industry Standards for UV-C Products

Health Europa Magazine, a publication which highlights the latest trends and developments in health and healthcare across Europe, has published an interview with the International Ultraviolet Association (IVA) which discusses the rise of commercial UVC products and the need to establish clear industry standards.

IVA Interview

This interview answers a number of questions including the impact that COVID-19 had on the industry and how the market for UV technology has changed. The article goes on to explain that:

“The pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the demand for existing UVC products. New UVC products have also been introduced to capitalise on the demand for disinfection technologies. The UVC industry has really tried to move with the science and companies are eager to bring out new products. When COVID-19 – which is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus – began, it was unclear what the infection pathway was – if it spread through the air, surfaces or through water. Most of the UVC machines at that time were focused on surface disinfection, and in particular, high-touch areas. As such, the UVC industry was all about marketing their surface disinfection devices, which include robots that move around shining lights on tables, chairs, beds, and walls, and UVC cabinets used to disinfect equipment and smaller items. As the science came to understand it was really an airborne pathogen, emphasis started to change in favour of upper air UVC treatment applications.” Read full article here.

Evolve Raybotix – Reassurance Through Research

The team at Evolve Raybotix, which includes a number of scientific experts, welcomes the proposal by the IVA in terms of setting clear industry standards for UV-C products.

Early on in the development of our UV-C disinfection robots which are supported by Ozone, we followed the stringent process to ensure our robots achieved classification as a medical device.

As part of our rigorous evaluation processes, we also undertook our own laboratory testing to determine the efficacy of the robots in both controlled and uncontrolled environments. One experiment used medical grade bacteria in a laboratory-controlled setting, whereas the second involved taking swabs from a company canteen area which is frequented by circa 65 employees per day. Areas such as door and fridge handles, canteen tables and chairs were swabbed before and after the room was disinfected by our NEO model robot, the smallest and least powerful of the range, which is most suited to areas of around 25m2.

The results showed that the disinfection efficiency involved a 98% reduction in bacteria and viruses in the non-controlled environment, and 99.9% reduction in the laboratory-controlled review. Evolve Raybotix has been keen to share the details of these experiments complete with images, supplier details (medical-grade bacteria) and results with those who require reassurance that the products work, are effective and can be easily deployed in their workspace to protect staff and visitors.

This information was reported in Health Europa magazine back in February 2021 and you can read the full article here.

Evolve Raybotix Air Module

As mentioned above, as UV-C technology further developed to treat airborne pathogens, the scientists at Evolve Raybotix focussed their attention on the development of a new product – the Air Modules which have the ability to sanitise environments without having to vacate the space. These anti UVC modules have been designed to filter out harmful UV rays, protecting exposed people, food, objects and furnishings.

You can read more about our Air Modules here including its compliance with current industry standards.

Alternatively, if you wish to speak to a member of our team about our robots, our approach to UV-C technology or our Air Module, please call 0800 3688234.