Germ Reaper Ultimate UV Light Sanitizer - Rechargeable Battery Kills 99.9% Germs & Bacteria - 2+ Hours Backup - Perfect for Home, Office, Travel & Baby Items Disinfection

This sanitizer worked well when I received it and used it for the first time. Now a little more than a year later, it won't re-charge....no longer works.Easy to useFantastic product works like a charm, always!Disinfecting areas of the house.When I chose to test this light sanitizer, I had no idea how much I would have to learn about the product and the process. I just assumed that you bought the wand, waved it at the germs and you were good to go. That is not quite the case.To begin with, a wand like this needs to have a wavelength of about 260 to be effective, this one does, 254. The next thing that is important is the irradiance measurement. This is needed to determine how long you must leave the want on an area to be effective. I could not find the irradiance measurement on the product or the instructions. Third, there should be no ozone emitted and according to the seller, this wand is compliant. Fourth, safety features on a device like this are key. While this wand does have a clear warning posted on it, other safety features are not present.Using the wand seemed scary at first but once you understand what is happening, it really is not. The most important thing is that you point the wand away from you and hold it fairly close to the item you are sanitizing. Hitting the button to turn the device on, you can barely tell that the light is on. The first time I used it, I turned the lights off so I could see it better. It looks just like a black light. It does more damage though, hopefully only to the bacteria, so you must be aware where you are pointing it. You keep the wand close to the item you are sanitizing and move it around a bit. How long you leave it is determined by the irradiance number which we don’t have. However, the instructions say for 10 seconds. Hopefully that is based on the irradiance.To recap: the process of sanitizing is really very simple. Is the wand doing what is it supposed to be doing? I have no way to measure that. The scientists say yes, this process will stop the bacteria from growing and spreading. We can choose to trust the wand but even the scientist say you still need to do more, basically still clean like you have been.Assuming that the wand is doing a great job of sanitizing, it is wonderful for certain things that you just can’t clean easily. Sink drains, board games, pillows, mattresses and pet bedding etc.On to a really important part of this device, safety. After reading about the effects of this light on skin and eyes, I have a concern about some facets of this device. To begin with, if I had small children in the home, I would either not have one of these or I would treat it like a gun, kept under lock and key. Imagine that you have plugged the wand in to charge and your 5 year old comes along and thinks “light saber.” There is no safety switch on the wand to prevent that from happening, there is also nothing to prevent you from having the wand facing towards you and turning it on with the light in your face. After using this item, I am confident that an educated adult can safety use it for the intended purpose but not a child. Having the light shone on the skin or eyes will most likely do damage.My rating on this item is based on giving the seller as well as the scientists full credit that it does what it is supposed to do in the killing of bacteria. If that were the only issue, my rating would be a 5 because of its ease of use and charging. However, I am quite concerned about the lack of safety features and that brings my rating down.The Germ Reaper Ultimate with Built-in Rechargeable Batteries – Ultraviolet Light Sanitizer – Kills Germs and Bacteria – Battery Backup over 2 HoursFirst this sanitizer is huge. It’s 21” long. It is not very portable. Before first use it must be charged for 10 hours. Can be used on a cycle of 5 min, 60 min, or unlimited. The wand will automatically turn off after the cycle.I ordered these before I knew nothing about UVC light sanitizers. Since then, I have done some research and I’ve found out that they can be fairly dangerous. I am not an expert and do not want to spread any false information, so please do your own research. A lot of the information I got was from the FDA website and CNET website.They do use UVC as a sterilizer in hospitals in an unoccupied space, so they do actually work. But UVC in consumer products are typically weaker than the commercial ones. It’s impossible to tell whether the surface has been sanitized or not. The germ reaper user’s manual does have a test report from SGS, a testing lab company headquartered in Switzerland, for their sterilization efficacy evaluation.Effective UVC sanitizers, in the hands of an uninformed person (me previously), can be very dangerous. It can cause painful eye injury and burn-like skin reactions. You should never use them with children or pets around. UVC can reflect back depending on the material. The germ reaper does have a tiny red warning on the wand that tells you not to expose eyes and skin directly to the light. There is also a written warning on the first page of their user’s guide. I don’t consider this to be sufficient amount of information on their product’s health and safety risks. Some UVC lamps can generate ozone, which can irritate your lungs. Some UVC lamps can contain mercury. In case it is damaged, it needs to be handled and disposed of properly. Neither of these informations are provided by the germ reaper, which concerns me.If using this product please be careful, remember “you may not see the UV-C light” (written in germ reaper’s User’s Guide), especially in a household with children and pets.