Many consumers have been led to believe that germicidal ultraviolet light (UV-C light) can:
The internet is awash with well-meaning but technically inaccurate “advise” about the application of germicidal ultraviolet light (UV-C light) to deep clean your down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
Despite everything you might have read on the internet, germicidal ultraviolet light (UV-C light) cannot:
So what are the sources of this misinformation?
Many manufacturers of hand-held UV-C emitting wands (think: a Star Wars light saber) claim that their products kill the live dust mites on the outside surface of your pillow shells and inside the fill of your down and down/feather mix bed pillows by merely exposing the outside surface of your pillow shells to germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light for a few seconds.
Many manufacturers of hand-held UV-C emitting light duty vacuums (think: Dyson-looking, hand held vacuum cleaner) claim that their products kill the live dust mites on the outside surface of your pillow shells and inside the fill of your down and down/feather mix bed pillows by merely exposing the outer surface of your pillow shells to germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light for a few minutes.
Then they claim that the built-in vacuum magically extracts the down and feather dust, dead bed bugs, dead dust mites, dead skin cells and other contaminants from deep inside the fill – through the outer fabric of your pillow shells!
There are even in-home services that claim to use UV-C emitting heavy duty vacuums to kill the live dust mites on the outside surface of your pillow shells and inside the fill of your down and down/feather mix bed pillows by merely exposing the outer surface of your pillow shells to germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light for a few minutes.
Then they claim that the built-in vacuum magically extracts the down and feather dust, dead skin cells, dead bed bugs, dead dust mites and other contaminants from deep inside the fill – through the outer fabric of your pillow shells!
Significantly denature (or deactivate) the protein allergens in the dust mite feces inside your down fill or down/feather mix fill?
Extract the down and feather dust, dead skin cells, dead bed bugs, dead dust mites and other contaminants from inside the fill of your pillows through the outer fabric of your pillow shells?
Science?
No.
More like science fiction!
There is no scientific basis for the belief that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light can:
Lah et al,“Effect of germicidal UV-C light (254 nm) on eggs and adult of house dust mites”, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, Vol 2, Issue 9, pages 679-683, September 2012.
The most important findings of this research are two-fold:
Given that the outer pillow shell shields the dust mites in the down fill and down/feather mix fill from the germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light, what are the odds that you can kill all the live dust mites inside the fill each of your bed pillows using one of these UV-C emitting devices?
A reasonable person would guess about slim to none.
And, even if germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light was magically able to penetrate the outer pillow shell, who would spend 60 minutes hand scanning or hand vacuuming each pillow in the futile hope that one of these UV-C emitting devises might be able to kill 100% of the adult dust mites buried deep inside the fill of each of your pillows?
We’d guess no one.
Based on the results of this study, it would appear that claims about the ability of UV-C emitting wands and light and heavy duty vacuums to kill live dust mites inside the fill of your pillows are not only way overblown.
They are patently false.
Germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light cannot denature (or deactivate) the protein allergens produced by the dust mite feces on the outer surface of your pillow shells.
These protein allergens are the primary triggers of asthma and allergies.
There is no scientific research to support the notion that UV-C light can denature (or deactivate) the protein allergens produced by the dust mite feces on the outer surface of your pillow shells.
Germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light cannot denature (or deactivate) the protein allergens produced by the dust mite feces inside the fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
These protein allergens are the primary triggers of asthma and allergies.
There is no scientific research to support the notion that UV-C light can denature (or deactivate) the protein allergens produced by the dust mite feces inside the fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
Germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light might be able to kill the live, adult dust mites on the outer surface of your pillow shells.
There is one study that indicates that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light be able to kill the live dust mites on the outside surface of your pillow shells.
We use the term “might be able to” because it took 60 minutes to kill an adult dust mite on a smooth, flat, non-porous, easily accessible surface in a laboratory when exposed to germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light at a distance of 10 centimeters (approximately 4 inches).
Think about that for a moment...
It took 60 minutes to kill an adult dust mite on a smooth, flat, non-porous, easily accessible surface in a laboratory using germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light.
So how’s it possible for you to kill any of the live, adult dust mites on the outer surface of your pillow shells?
Source: Lah et al, “Effect of germicidal UV-C light (254 nm) on eggs and adult of house dust mites”, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, Vol 2, Issue 9, Pages 679-683, September 2012.
Germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light might be able to kill the live, adult dust mites inside the fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
There is one study that indicates that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light) might be able to kill the adult dust mites inside the fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
We use the term “might be able to” because it took 60 minutes to kill an adult dust mite on a smooth, flat, non-porous, easily accessible surface in a laboratory when exposed to germicidal ultraviolet light (UV-C light) at a distance of 10 centimeters (about 4 inches).
Think about that for a moment...
It took 60 minutes to kill an adult dust mite on a smooth, flat, non-porous, easily accessible surface in a laboratory using germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light.
So how’s it possible for you to kill any of the thousands of live, adult dust mites buried deep inside your down fill or down/feather mix fill?
Source: Lah et al, “Effect of germicidal UV-C light (254 nm) on eggs and adult of house dust mites”, Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, Vol 2, Issue 9, Pages 679-683, September 2012.
Germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light cannot kill the embryonic eggs of dust mites inside the fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
There is no scientific research to support the notion that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light can kill the embryonic eggs of dust mites inside the fill of your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
Germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light might be able to kill the embryonic eggs of dust mites on the outer surface of your pillows.
There is one study that indicates that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light might be able to kill the embryonic eggs of dust mites on the outside surface of your pillow shells.
We use the term “might be able to” because it took 15 seconds to kill the embryonic eggs of dust mites on a smooth, flat, non-porous, easily accessible surface in a laboratory when exposed to germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light at a distance of 2 centimeters or less (approximately 3/4 of an inch).
Source: Needham et al, “Ultraviolet C Exposure is Fatal to American House Dust Mite Eggs, The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Vol 117, Issue 2, Supplement, Page S28, February 2006.
It’s important to note that the Needham study (referenced in Point 6 above) involved:
Yet, the manufacturers of these UV-C emitting wands and vacuums often cite the Needham study as “proof” that their UV-C emitting devices can:
Remember that the Needham study was conducted in a highly controlled manner on a flat, smooth, non-porous, easily accessible surface inside a laboratory on the embryonic eggs of dust mites.
Not on live, adult dust mites.
Can the results of the Needham study be extrapolated to the real world conditions of substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows?
Of course, not.
The literature offered by many of the manufacturers of these UV-C emitting wands and vacuums and the literature offered by many service providers that use these devices appears to be intentionally deceptive.
Many seem to follow the same Hollywood science fiction script.
That’s a TRUE statement.
But only if your down fill or down/feather mix fill is removed from the pillow shell.
That’s a FALSE statement.
Even if your down fill or down/feather mix fill is removed from the pillow shell.
All of which have absolutely nothing to do with using germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light to kill adult dust mites.
These scientific terms are distinctly different. They are not one and the same.
Bacterial or viral pathogens are bacteria and viruses that cause disease; dust mites are microscopic bugs or ticks that live on the dead skin cells (commonly called dander) shed by humans as they sleep.
They toss in a long list of bacteria, viruses, fungi and spores and list the intensity of germicidal ultraviolet
(UV-C) light necessary to achieve a 99% “kill rate” for each type of bacteria, virus, fungus and spore.
The implication, of course, is that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light will be just as effective killing dust mites inside your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows as it will be denaturing (or deactivating) bacterial and viral pathogens.
What they don’t tell you is that these “kill rates” apply solely to denaturing (or deactivating) bacterial and viral pathogens in large scale, commercial air purification systems used in specialized facilities such as a hospital’s Emergency Room.
The don't apply to dust mites inside the fill of your pillows!
Turns out that their “Independent Research Data” on killing dust mites using germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light is not “independent”, not “research” and not “data”.
Is it any wonder that, after reading all their literature, consumers might actually come to believe that germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) light can
There you have it.
The pros (if there are any) and cons of “completely cleaning” your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows using hand-held germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) emitting wands and vacuums.
There is absolutely no scientific proof to support the notion that hand-held germicidal ultraviolet (UV-C) emitting wands and vacuums can “completely cleaning” your substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows.
Absolutely no scientific proof.
ReFact is, anyone who believes that they can “completely clean” their substantially down and down/feather mix bed pillows using hand-held wands and vacuums that emit germicidal UV-C light – with the fill still enclosed within an outer pillow shell – has probably been exposed to way too much UV-C light at some time in the past!