HPUV™ (high performance ultravioletlight) by Kurt A. Garrett

Microorganisms encompass a wide variety of unique structures and can be grouped into five basic groups: bacteria, virus, fungi, protozoa, and algae. A microorganism is composed of the cell-wall, cytoplasmic membrane and the cell's genetic material, nucleic acid. It is this genetic material or DNA that is affected by the Ultraviolet light. As UV-C penetrates through the cell wall, it causes molecular rearrangement of the microorganism's DNA thus preventing reproduction. If a cell can not reproduce, it is considered to be microbiologically dead. Due to individual cell makeup, different levels of UV energy are required for destruction. The effectiveness of UV microbial destruction is a product of both time and intensity. The intensity of UV-C light is measured in micro-watts per square centimeter and the time is measured in seconds. Hence the amount of ultraviolet light necessary to kill a particular microorganism is reported in units of micro-watt seconds per square centimeter; this is known as the dose. The following table shows the dose required to kill common microorganisms.