Wash your hands and then sterilize everything else you can find

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The only real positive among the barrage of bad news that is the Coronavirus pandemic is that people are now collectively more aware of hygiene demands. More than ever before. Wash hands, disinfect hands and sterilize objects and things you touch. There is certainly a greater understanding of the invisible enemy – the virus, bacteria and germs that can cause significant damage. The point is, we may not realize this, but everything we touch has the potential to transmit certain germs to us. At the same time, we can even leave some germs on every surface we touch. This is how micro-organisms spread. This is how the disease spreads. But how do you sterilize all the objects around you, in your home? Our smartphones, tablets, laptops, the children’s toys that are usually all over the floor, the face masks we wear outdoors, sunglasses, watches, banknotes, coins, there are countless things we pick up, touch and use every day that carry viruses, bacteria and germs. that are otherwise invisible to the human eye. There is now another very capable UV-C solution, the Godrej ViroShield, which helps you sterilize the physical things around you.

The Godrej ViroShield is available with a capacity of 30 liters and costs Rs 9,490. This joins that of the Orient Electric UV Sanitech which costs around Rs 9,499 for the 34 liter capacity and the Philips UV-C disinfection system which also has a 30 liter capacity and is priced at Rs 10,299. But there is one big difference that the Godrej ViroShield brings to your home compared to its rivals from Philips and Orient Electric: it has 4 UV-C lamps, as opposed to the other two, which have a few lamps in the room. More UV-C tubes potentially means faster cleaning.

The beverage fridge-like design of the Godrej ViroShield allows you to actually use the space at your disposal. In fact, at first glance, this looks a lot like the Godrej Cube personal cooling solution, which is also available in the 30 liter capacity. This kind of design is an instant upgrade over the Orient UV Sanitech, which with its top design meant you were dropping things in instead of sliding them in. Although the capacity for it is 34 liters, the loading mechanism can be restrictive in that case one way. That said, the Godrej ViroShield has a square design, meaning you get the same real estate vertically and horizontally. It shouldn’t be a problem for the most part, but I feel like the microwave-like design of the Philips UV-C disinfection system might make the best use of width, allowing you to slide in wider things like laptops, files, and stacks of paper. , easier. The metal housing with the double matte gray and enamel white finish looks good wherever you keep the Godrej ViroShield.

Open it and the inside of the sterilization chamber has reflective interiors, just like its rivals. But the Godrej ViroShield has visually more reflective walls and its six sides, including the inside of the front door. Better reflection makes the rays bounce back quickly and act on the objects you’ve placed in them. Second, there are two UV-V tubes each, on the top and bottom. The door itself is magnetically sealed when you close it to prevent any UV leakage. Also, Godrej ViroShield will immediately turn off the power to the UV-C in case you open the door distracted while the sterilization operation is taking place. That’s because, while the UV-C method is good for sterilizing objects and surfaces, it shouldn’t come in contact with human skin or near our eyes.

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The Godrej ViroShield has a single switch, which means you can turn it on and off manually. But there is no timer option like the Philips UV-C disinfection system allows you to choose between 2 minutes, 5 minutes and 8 minutes. By default, the Godrej ViroShield performs a full 6 minute cycle when powered on and shuts off automatically.

However, a chime will sound periodically during this operation, perhaps to tell you that the Godrej ViroShield is currently on and active. Unfortunately this chime is very loud, it’s not exactly pleasant and there is no way to turn this off. You may not want to use this if someone is sleeping at home at the time.

The Godrej ViroShield uses four UV-C lamps that emit radiation at 254nm. By the way, these are 11 watt UV lamps and if you look closely they are made by Philips. The way these lights are placed in the room and cover the vertical length means that whatever you put in it will get the UV-C envelope in its entirety, with the reflective walls playing a part in redirecting the UV-C .

But why do we need a UV-C solution at home? The concept of using ultraviolet, or UV, actually comes from nature. The sun emits UV-A, UV-B and UV-C into the solar system. Of these, of course, UV-C has the most energy, which also means it can potentially be more dangerous too – which is why the Earth’s atmosphere absorbs us from it. But the man-made sources of UV-C, when used in a controlled environment, can be used for powerful sterilization purposes. Some UV-C breaks down certain chemical bonds and distorts the structure of the DNA, RNA and proteins, preventing the microorganism from multiplying. That’s when it’s effectively dead – and your stuff can be considered safely sterilized. Incidentally, UV-C is also used to clean water. The UV-C is used in the wavelength range of 100-280 nm.

A study by Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) says that UV-C light sources irradiating the surface of a material inoculated with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 disease) at a UV-C dose of 5 mJ/cm2 (exposure time 6 seconds) resulted in a 99% reduction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus present on that surface. This study determined that a UV-C dose of 22mJ/cm2 results in a 99.9999% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 virus on that surface (exposure time 25 seconds).

It is true that UV-C sterilization systems such as the Godrej ViroShield do the work of the invisible: they kill viruses, bacteria and germs that we cannot see, touch or feel. But they have the potential to negatively affect our health. We have kind of become a routine at home to sterilize every package that comes in from outside, including newspapers and couriers and of course review devices. One can never be too careful when it comes to our health.