Nukit Far-UVC Torch Instructions

How to best use your Nukit Torch Kit

The Nukit Torch Kit consists of four battery-operated Far-UVC emitters. Far-UVC, or 222nm light, is unique in that it can inactivate airborne pathogens in rooms occupied by humans (and pets) without harming them. Far-UVC can also inactivate fomites - surface pathogens. However, this is not as common a route of transmission as scientists previously thought.

If you shine the lamp on a surface 15cm away- the light stops at that surface and is not illuminating whole cubic meters of air where it would do far more good. So the best use of Far-UVC is for air, not surface disinfection. For optimal results, the goal should always be to aim your emitters at large, unobstructed volumes of air- not at things.

If you are concerned about an airline tray table or similar surface, slowly move the emitter over it from about 10cm away, this will inactivate most common pathogens on that surface.

As far as we presently know, the best way to use Far-UVC is to spread it over a large area- to diffuse it. This also avoids hotspots of potential overexposure that might occur with very, very long-term use in a fixed setting. The advantage of this, is that the emitters can be placed fairly unobtrusively throughout a small room, at some distance from people who might have unfounded concerns about Far-UVC.

Here's the Nutkit Torch at a dentist's office- you'd have to look twice, or you'd miss them, and there's very little to object to-

 

Yet the data we have shows that having them spread out and pointed into a large volume of air in exactly this way is most effective for the inactivation of pathogens-

Far-UVC (222 nm) efficiently inactivates an airborne pathogen in a room-sized chamber, Eadie et al.

If we think in terms of trying to illuminate as large an area as possible with small light sources, another good method is to have lamps pointing in different directions. Like this:

But if other people are close, and are uninformed about the safety of Far-UVC, having all the emitters facing one direction, away from them and towards you for a short time is fine a well:

For daily use, it is recommended to keep the lamps about 50 cm away from you and from each other. But for occasional use, such as on an airplane, it is perfectly fine to place the lamps closer together - say side by side in the seat back pocket facing you.

Since we are trying to reduce viral load in an area as a whole, you don't really need to worry about the lamps facing you or the air in front of you. So it is ok to place them flat and facing the ceiling.

There is no current research to indicate that a "bubble of protection" is possible. As much we all wish it were, at the present time it would be dishonest marketing to say so. Air currents would pass through any "bubble" far too quickly. But we do know that with well distributed Far-UVC, we can significantly reduce the viral load in our immediate environment.

Citations:

Turn Up the Lights, Leave them On and Shine them All Around—Numerical Simulations Point the Way to more Efficient Use of Far-UVC Lights for the Inactivation of Airborne Coronavirus

Effectiveness of 222-nm ultraviolet light on disinfecting SARS-CoV-2 surface contamination

Far-UVC (222 nm) efficiently inactivates an airborne pathogen in a room-sized chamber

Predicting airborne coronavirus inactivation by far-UVC in populated rooms using a high-fidelity coupled radiation-CFD model