We're looking at the possibility of using proprietary UV sterilisation lamps for certain lab areas. These units have a delay timer so you can set them then leave the room whilst it works for a set period. We can use signage and perhaps lock the door to prevent inadvertent exposure when the lamp is lit however I'm concerned about the vision panels into the room and access by cleaners/security out of hours. Does anyone else use these units?

Hi, Why not consider an ozone generator, as an alternative. Pete,

What about a door switch that turns the lamps off when opened.

This is the sort of thing we are considering; http://www.uvc-lightprod...-mobile-room-steriliser/ I was hoping someone else used something similar. Perhaps I'm a little over cautious having had issues with UV before.

I have used this in a past life but you need to be careful, definitely lock the door when the UV is on and get an interlock to turn off the UV when the door is opened. UV is invisible and it is not always obvious when the lights are on, which is when you get burned (I know from personal experience). Overall I think it is safer than ozone and cheaper but not forget that the UV tubes degrade over time and although they seem to be working the amount of UV light they emit falls off and they become ineffective. Do not assume that they sterilise the lab: it’s still a lab (at CL2 I would assume) and this is no substitution for good bench top hygiene.

What I had in mind was that you get specular reflection from surfaces where the imperfections are smaller than the wavelength of the light. Since IR has longer wavelengths, surfaces that are matt in the visible range might become mirrors in the IR. Anyway, I doubt if the UV reflects well from most surfaces, so I would expect it to only sterilise effectively in the line of sight of the lamp.

UV is used principally as a means to disable DNA rather than to actually sterilise the lab. It has some effect of virus but less than a good disinfectant. As Jane Blunt said the UV will only work in line of sight of the UV lamps but hopefully who ever worked in the lab wasn’t splashing the nucleic acids about. The main reason for controlling the nucleic acids is a matter of quality control. A single stray DNA molecule can really screw up your experiments, so it is worth doing this alongside more traditional disinfection/cleaning methods. The controls which I mentioned-signage, interlocking switches and doors etc are fairly well established procedures in this area.