Home use of ultraviolet radiation disinfection products
A study on a range of products which were promoted for reducing the risk of catching COVID-19.
Documents
Details
As a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Public Health England (PHE) Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) provided support to WHO in March 2020 on the public message concerning the use of UV-C disinfection products.
CRCE advised the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) and purchased 9 low-cost products for assessment. The initial results suggested two areas of concern: that the products may potentially not be effective for inactivating SARS-CoV-2 and/or they may present a risk to the eyes or the skin.
OPSS funded a study of products, which were assessed by CRCE. Several products were also submitted to CRCE from Trading Standards. 48 devices were assessed in total. The research assessment was undertaken by the Laser and Optical Radiation Dosimetry Group, Public Health England.
The tested devices fell into four categories: handheld wands (18), area exposure units (17), enclosures/bags (12) and one handheld vacuum cleaner.
For any enquiries relating to this research please use the following email address opss.enquiries@beis.gov.uk