Researchers say hand-held ultraviolet light devices being sold online with claims they can disinfect groceries and clothing can be unreliable and dangerous if mishandled.
The UV light sanitizers are being advertised as the panacea for the COVID-19 pandemic, able to disinfect everything from dinner vegetables to doorknobs.
Many different models are being sold online, ranging in price from $25 to $200. An online search for those listed as top products on business and tech sites list 17 as sold out or “in high demand.”
They look like a small flashlight or flat curling iron and often claim to kill 99 per cent of germs. In Canada such claims require scientific proof.
“If a company cannot provide scientific evidence [then] do not buy their product,” said Taylor Mann, founder and CEO of CleanSlate UV in Toronto.
Mann said his UV supply business has exploded in popularity in the pandemic. He’s moving manufacturing from China to Ontario, and pushing for tougher UV industry standards.
Hand-held UV flashlights are sold commonly online. Some purport to disinfect ’99 per cent of germs,’ but UV light experts have their doubts. (CBC )
“There’s a lot of devices out there that are very concerning,” said Mann.
Canadian scientists researching the effectiveness of UV light as a disinfectant say the at-home technology is a poor defence against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Ottawa researcher Richard Webster said the key to destroying pathogens is the intensity of the light, and he doubts consumer-grade devices are, in many cases, strong enough to disinfect within seconds, as some claim to do.
“We think the amount of UV you need is about 20,000 joules per metre squared and you probably aren’t going to get that in your hand-held little device,” Webster said.
His prototype device uses between 240 to 480 watts to achieve that dose of light.
Dubious claims
Webster is with a research team at Ottawa’s CHEO Research Institute that reviewed 1,000 studies of UV light decontamination and is working on a way to disinfect medical masks so they can be reused.
He said industry and hospitals are collaborating on prototypes of UV light sanitizing devices across Canada. But he says those devices are not available, or recommended, for home use.
They are big and combine multiple strips of LED lights — more than could be housed in a handheld wand — that deliver a powerful blast of UV light.
Ayman Yaghi, left, stands with colleagues from Arkalumen, holding the prototype UV mask disinfection device they just invented to harness UV light to recycle medical respirators. (Arkalumen)
The wavelength of the light emitted is potentially dangerous, so such sanitizers are usually housed in a box or cabinet and aren’t turned on until they are fully enclosed. Although smaller versions often use the same LED lights as the hospital-grade versions, it’s difficult to test their power, Webster says.
Claims that disinfection happens in seconds are questionable, Webster said, because it takes time to kill certain pathogens.
“I wouldn’t use those as my first line of defence,” said Webster.
It also takes shortwave UV-C light — with a wavelength of around 250 nanometres — to disinfect. Many of the consumer-grade models advertise that they do use that wavelength, but that in itself is a potential danger: UV light of that intensity can burn skin, damage eyes and cause skin cell mutations.
Ayman Yaghi, general manager of Arkalumen, the Ottawa company that built the prototype device designed to disinfect medical masks, says a hand-held consumer sanitizer using UV light is possible — but he would be reluctant to put one into service.
A mild bleach solution and simple soap and water are recommended to protect against COVID-19. (CBC News)
“The main concern is that the average consumer doesn’t have the knowledge or skills to use the device effectively or safely,” said Yaghi, who added that different viruses require different lengths of exposure to be neutralized.
He said he’s wary of the specifications, claims and testimonials for the sanitizers sold online, some of which include images of the product being used to disinfect groceries and even masks.
Yaghi said he worries the devices will give a false sense of security to users.
“It’s amazing that people in the comments on these products say that it works so well, but they don’t really have a way to verify that it works on their groceries,” said Yaghi.
Webster said grocery disinfection is best done with soap and water — or by just washing your own hands after touching packaging.
If a consumer does opt to wave an unproven UV light product over a cereal box for safety, Mann said the best-case scenario is it won’t do anything..
“Worst-case scenario, you could be buying a product that is actively harming you. Realistically you should not be exposed to UV-C light that is powerful enough to make any kind of difference.”
Grocery shopping and unpacking is another potential infection point for the novel coronavirus, so some people look for ways to disinfect their fruits, vegetable and packaging. (Shutterstock / Atstock Productions)
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
