Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is like shining a special light that can kill tiny bugs that make you sick. It's kind of like when your Mom uses a special spray to kill germs on your toys, except instead of a spray, it's a super bright light that's really good at killing germs.

So how does the light work? It's like when you put on sunscreen to protect your skin. The light we can see is made up of different colors, and some of those colors - like the color purple - are super strong and can damage things. When that purple light shines on tiny bugs, it damages their DNA and makes it so they can't grow or spread anymore.

People use UVGI in lots of different things to keep them clean and safe. For example, a doctor might use UVGI to clean tools they use during a surgery, or a restaurant might put UVGI lights in their air conditioning to keep the air clean. That way, the tiny bugs can't spread and make people sick.

But it's important to remember that UVGI is still a really strong light, and can be dangerous to people if they look at it directly or touch it. So just like you need to be careful when your Mom uses cleaning spray, you need to be careful when UVGI lights are being used.