How does UV light disinfect things and what all can it disinfect?
In: Chemistry
Ultraviolet light is higher energy than visible like and can react with living tissue. The same thing that can make a human skin cell become cancerous can scramble a pathogen’s DNA to the point it can no longer function.
Some pathogens are more resistant to UV light than others, but the specific kind of UV used as a disinfectant is UV-C, which is even higher energy than what causes sunburns. It will kill most anything that is exposed to it, but exposure is the key. It isn’t going to do much for pathogens hiding under dirt.
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