Todd There are many products that are used to kill bacteria and viruses including chemicals, heat, and UV light. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of keeping surfaces clean and disinfected.
The EPA has a list of chemical products that have been shown to kill the COVID-19 virus. There have been studies that show UV light and heat kill most bacteria and viruses, but with the newness of the specific COVID-19 virus, there are not studies showing that it kills that particular virus. This has not stopped many medical centers from using UV light to disinfect equipment and masks.
UV light damages DNA and RNA, which damages viruses’ ability to reproduce. UV light does not discriminate on the type of DNA and can cause skin damage. This has caused the World Health Organization to recommend that UV light not be used on “the hands or other areas of the skin.”
One product that came on the market a few years ago were small UV sanitizers that were targeted to disinfect toothbrushes and pacifiers. Since those have come on the market, UV sanitizers to disinfect cellphones and small objects have come onto the market. The demand for these products has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
There are A LOT of these products available on Amazon. I like UV sanitizers since they are reusable, do not contain harmful chemicals, and can still be used after the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. I have used a travel toothbrush UV sanitizer for years, and the local hospital’s emergency room doctors have had a UV cellphone sanitizer at the doctors’ workstation since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of the UV sanitizers on Amazon are showing a delivery date from mid-April to June. The below products have a delivery date of less than a week. Please do your research, and buy a reputable product, and keep in mind that even though UV light has been shown to kill most viruses and bacteria, the individual products may not have been tested. The boxes can be used for other small items in addition to cellphones.
HUIDANGJIA UV Cell Phone Sanitizer is cheap and would normally be a great option, but the issue is the shipping time. Amazon says that the delivery date will not be until May. The advertised interior dimensions are 7.0 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches, making it one of the larger boxes.
UV Cell Phone Sanitizer, Portable Smart Phone Sterilizer. Delivery the first week of April. No exact interior dimensions are given but says it fits a 7-inch smartphone.
Smart Phone UV Light Sanitizer Box Portable. Delivery is ~3-5 days. Interior dimensions of 7.6 x 3.9 x 0.72 inches .
Smartphone Cleaner Portable Cell Phone Cleaner. This sanitizer is able to be delivered in ~3-5 days. The interior dimensions are 6.9 x 4.0 x 0.55 inches. This product is for sale by other vendors too, but all of the cheaper options I found had very long shipping times.
x 102 x 14HoMedics UV-Clean Phone Sanitizer. Delivery is ~4 days. Interior dimensions of 6.5 x 3.5 x 1 inch. Claims third-party testing for effectiveness.
Conclusion
These prices are not the lowest ever prices on these products and some of these products are available for cheaper with a longer delivery time. I have seen UV sanitizer boxes show up in Amazon Warehouse for cheaper with a quick delivery time, but they tend to sell very fast.
