June 2, 2022
Response to UV Light Exposure with our Commercial flooring
Many consumer goods have potential for color shift under direct intense light sources. As a result, industry standard light exposure tests (such as ASTM F1515) have been developed over the years. Armstrong Flooring adheres to these industry standards assuring high quality products.
Nonetheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a shift in the demand for consumer product performance particularly as UVC sterilization units are more frequently utilized in hospital settings. While it will take years for industry standards to be developed in response to this shift in demand, Armstrong Flooring continues to participate in the development of those standards to assure the quality of our products.
Our internal development work has included working with our local hospitals to gather information on the performance of their UVC units and their potential effects on flooring. This work continues to provide confidence of our products’ performance particularly under UVC light sources. That being said, there are a vast variety of UVC units constantly being introduced into the market with varying and inconsistent UVC energy levels. Furthermore, UVC units are utilized at a variety of exposure times, positions within a decontamination space and frequency. The lack of standardization of how these units are utilized as well as their actual performance make it difficult for us to guarantee product performance at this time. However, we have millions of square feet of product currently installed in hospital settings where a wide variety of UVC sterilization units are utilized. To date, we have not received feedback on customer satisfaction concerns with our current installations in regards to UVC exposure.