Under the Spotlight - UV Lights in Safety Cabinets

UV light is a very ‘Marmite’ topic when it comes to safety cabinets, you either love them or hate them. The actual British standard, BSEN:12469, doesn’t recommend UV lights in a safety cabinet, however if required, “…it should be installed in such a manner that it doesn’t affect the airflow and containment performance of the cabinet.”

UV light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can cause damage to nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids within cells, thus preventing cell division and causing apoptosis.

If UV is required in the cabinet, an electrical interlocking facility should be provided to prevent direct exposure of the worker to UV when working at the cabinet. This should be either through no direct line of exposure to the user, or the glass is UV protected.

Energy consumption of UV light tubes is generally around 15-30 W, but may need consideration if used regularly, especially for longer periods such as overnight. It is recommended that tubes be replaced after approximately 2,000 hours of use to ensure the irradiation level is maintained. If mounted correctly, disturbance will be kept to a minimum.

If UV spectrum light tubes are used, they must be cleaned weekly to remove any dust and dirt that may block the germicidal effectiveness of light. Ultraviolet light intensity is best at around 10cm; the further away the light from the worksurface, the lower the intensity and therefore, the less effective it becomes. If purchasing a cabinet with UV lights, consider the distance they are placed in relation to the worksurface.

UV lights are not a substitute for routine surface decontamination on biological safety cabinet work areas. We would always recommend cleaning with 70% ethanol or other varieties of sterilising solutions. This is even more crucial when cabinets have a lot of equipment in them as the equipment will block the UV light from potentially reaching contamination, this includes tip boxes, pipettes, and waste bins to name the common culprits.

Within Biopharma Group’s Faster airflow equipment portfolio, available to mainland UK, we have a magnetic UV sterilising lamp that can be easily placed on any area of the back wall to minimise distance to the work surface. This plugs in and can be placed directly onto the back wall of the cabinet so can be removed during normal operation. Additionally, if there is a change of use for an existing in-situ cabinet, this allows the sterilising lamp to be purchased and retrofitted by any end user, plus it comes complete with programmable countdown timers to offer the user the flexibility of length and time of day the program starts.

The average lifespan of Faster’s UV sterilising lamp is 5,000 hours and has a count down so the end user knows when they lamp needs to be replaced, whereas most competitors are between 2,000- 3,000 hours and must be fixed to the back wall where they collect dust and dirt that will affect downflow, or on the side walls where they are far from the equipment to be sterilized and hence less effective.

The use of UV light will in some cases be necessary; in these cases, it should be evaluated carefully to ensure worker safety, the power needs of the laboratory plus how it can be used and maintained at an optimal level. For the best advice, talk to a team with a wealth of knowledge and product experience that allows them to provide the best solution to your needs; get in touch with a product specialist here.