UV LEDs are, on the other hand, more flexible and robust, immune to moisture, operate at lower voltages and are more cost effective than mercury discharge lamps. LEDs are also more easily dimmable, allowing more accurate UV radiation dosages than mercury vapour lamps. The other big advantage is that they are more easily tuned by selecting different LED types, capable of generating UVA (315-380nm), UVB (280-315nm) or UVC (200-280nm) or any mixture of these wavelengths. Thus, the same PCB layout could be used for many different purposes.
For example, a combination of blue/white visible and UVA LEDs could be used to treat secondary infections such as MRSA or used to eliminate contaminants in the air or water supplies. Visible and UVA radiation has the advantage that with limited dosage levels there is no harmful effect on human skin or eyes. Alternately, when populated with high intensity UVC LEDs, the same design could be used as a powerful disinfection lamp, blocking the replication of viruses or bacteria by emitting intense UV radiation that has been fine tuned to the peak absorption wavelength of 265nm in order to disrupt their RNA/DNA strands.