The future was arriving. More and more innovations, equipped with better technology, artificial intelligence, and much more, were on the horizon. Then, in 2020, the pandemic hit.

Amid all the chaos and heartbreak that followed, COVID-19 also put us in fast-forward mode. The pandemic drove a wave of innovation forward at a quicker pace than anticipated.

“Necessity is the mother of invention” is a well-known saying. It primarily means that the motivation for most new innovations is a need. The recent pandemic definitely supplied a need—a need for more cleaning and disinfecting, and we needed it quickly. Cleaning patterns had changed overnight. Many companies stepped up to provide us with a variety of innovations to fulfill that need.

One such company is Diversey. Diversey’s solution, MoonBeam™3, is a highly innovative, portable, and powerful solution that provides fast and effective UV-C disinfection to kill harmful pathogens quickly and effectively. Let’s find out more about UV-C disinfection and this company with its award-winning product.

What is UV-C disinfection?

UV-C is a technology used to decrease infection and contamination using short-wavelength ultraviolet light to eliminate microorganisms by eradicating nucleic acids, disrupting their DNA, and leaving them unable to function.

Niels Ryberg Finsen was the first to use UV rays in curing disease. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1903, he invented the Finsen curative lamp, which was used well into the 1950s.

UV-C light, in the mode of germicidal lamps, has been used since the late 1800s to kill disease-causing agents that typically cause bacteria, viruses, and mold. Today, advancements in technology have made it possible for UV-C disinfection to be used in an ever-growing range of applications.

One such application is in the form of Diversey’s innovation, MoonBeam 3.

Diversey meets demand

“Diversey’s mission is to protect and care for people through leading hygiene, infection prevention, and cleaning solutions,” claims Nicole Goulet, vice president of marketing for Diversey North America. “We develop and deliver innovative products, services, and technologies that save lives and protect our environment. Over the course of 95 years, the Diversey brand has become synonymous with product quality, service, and innovation.”

Diversey’s fully integrated suite of solutions combines patented chemicals, dosing and dispensing equipment, cleaning machines, services, and digital analysis. Diversey serves more than 85,000 customers in over 80 countries with a network of approximately 8,600 employees globally.

Prior to the pandemic, studies had shown that traditional manual cleaning and disinfection practices in facilities were often not enough. Inconsistent manual cleaning processes, variations in cleaning effectiveness, and lack of an auditing process can affect the efficacy of manual disinfection. With today’s marketplace challenges of staffing and turnover, surface cleaning and disinfection can be even more suboptimized. Careful cleaning and disinfection of environmental surfaces are essential elements of effective infection prevention programs.

Added technologies, such as UV-C disinfection machines, have become a critical part of how facilities control the spread of germs with a higher level of confidence. The perception of consumers, patrons, and patients of the commitment to infection prevention has demonstrated measurable increases.

Enter MoonBeam 3, a new angle on UV-C disinfection. “MoonBeam 3 is a portable and powerful solution that provides fast and effective UV-C disinfection, killing pathogens on hard, non-porous surfaces,” explains Larinda Becker, executive director of infection prevention marketing at Diversey North America. “With an affordable purchase price and low operating costs, MoonBeam 3 can be easily incorporated into the daily workflow, providing added assurance, and reducing the risk of the transmission of pathogens.”

The system offers three individually adjustable arms that can be positioned at almost any angle to dose the UV-C light on both horizontal and vertical surfaces, optimizing disinfection energy. MoonBeam 3 has demonstrated 3 to 6-log reductions in harmful pathogens such as MRSA, VRE, and C. diff spores with cycle times as low as three minutes.

Hard surface hygiene expectations

Throughout the history of UV-C technology, it has been used in a variety of ways. It has helped to cure disease, to sanitize water, and to disinfect the air. But UV-C technology is relatively new in applications for hard surface treatment.

Recent developments have demonstrated extreme value to the hard surface disinfection application. “With the emergent needs from the pandemic and concerns of environmental hygiene, UV-C has become more widely accepted and adapted for use in creating safer environments in thousands of facilities, including healthcare, office, education, retail, and transportation,” says Goulet. It has become even more prevalent due to the labor shortages and issues faced in many locations, and the increased expectations of safer and more hygienic environments.

Therefore, the reactions to the MoonBeam 3 have been very positive. “End users find it very fast and effective to eradicate germs with the 3-minute contact time,” Becker says of Diversey’s new product. “The portability has enabled them to easily transport across and within facilities, and be used in many applications, even with tight spaces. The ease of use is another attribute that has demonstrated value in that users can train all their staff to operate, and there is no need to have specialists for treatment. The growth has been excellent, and we continue to see new applications for use. We have seen acceptance both domestically and internationally where we have launched the product.”

But with the many shortages of products we have seen, can Diversey deliver? According to Goulet, they can. “The product is forecasted, planned, and produced to meet demand. Diversey maintains an inventory beyond our forecast, as well as additional inventory of the longer lead time components to ensure faster manufacturing and delivery.”

ISSA awards Diversey

Diversey has been an ISSA member organization for nearly 75 years. “ISSA had been a phenomenal organization for Diversey for thought leadership and networking,” says Goulet. “Our team continues to grow and gain expertise in many areas through learnings from ISSA, and also reciprocates in sharing our learnings to help the organization in many ways. The trends and education sharing are invaluable to the overall industry in hygiene standards and ongoing improvement.”

Diversey joined the spotlight at the 2021 ISSA Show North America when it received an Innovation Award. ISSA Show Innovation Award winners represent the top advancements in the commercial, institutional, and residential cleaning industry. ISSA was pleased to present the Facility Service Provider Choice Award to Diversey’s MoonBeam 3.

“Diversey’s core values and commitment to protect and care for people through leading hygiene, infection prevention, and cleaning solutions are consistent with ISSA. We feel that MoonBeam 3 demonstrates an invaluable solution to a need that has become more critical over the past couple of years in creating a safer environment,” says Becker. “Diversey is proud to bring a solution to help in our ongoing commitment to infection prevention, and we are honored to gain strides in this area.”