NuvaWave Handheld Disinfection Device Instructions for Use
037-0110 (Rev C)
© 2020 UV Innovators, LLC
Page 14 of 35
Section 2: NuvaWave Safety Information
2.1
UVC
R
ADIATION AND
H
OW IT
W
ORKS
The visible spectrum of light has been well characterized and can easily be seen in the colors of a
rainbow from purple (400 nm) to red (700 nm). As the wavelength increases, the energy of the photon
decreases, as seen in Figure 2.1a.
Figure 2.1a The electromagnetic spectrum
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation was discovered in 1801 by Johann Wilhelm Ritter, a German physicist, as he
observed that invisible rays beyond the violet end of the visible spectrum darkened silver chloride-
based paper. Over the next 100 years, scientists began to learn the power of the ultraviolet spectrum,
(Figure 2.1b) and in 1878 they discovered the disinfecting effect of short wavelength UV light on
bacteria.
