The exposure of germicidal ultraviolet is the product of time and intensity. High intensities for a short period and low intensities for a long period are fundamentally equal in lethal action on bacteria. The inverse square law applies to germicidal ultraviolet as it does to light: the killing power decreases as the distance from the lamps increases. The average bacterium will be killed in ten seconds at a distance of six inches from the lamp in a G9 Germ Killer.