Sterilization by ultraviolet radiation

A new use for electricity rapidly is developing in the field of sterilization through controlled applications of radiation in limited portions of the ultraviolet spectrum. Such radiation has been known sketchily for its abiotic properties, but a practical knowledge leading to commercial applications has evolved only recently from careful segregation of different wave lengths, the elimination of certain very short-wave radiations that seem undesirable, and the perfection of a means of measuring such radiation quantitatively. The sterilization of foods and food containers, various utensils, and articles subject to mold or fungi growths, and the reduction of air-borne bacteria seem destined to characterize this new tool in the form of commercial tubular lamps as one of man's strongest instruments in combating disease and reducing spoilage losses.