UV Air Purifier
A UV air purifier is a cleaner that is designed to kill bacteria that live in the air and get spread around as you breathe them in. Most of the time, this is a subsystem of the purifier - ultraviolet light can't do anything about dirt, mold, or other pollutants because it doesn't actually take anything out of the air. Instead, as the air goes through that portion of the machine, it is bombarded with rays of light that are lethal to bacteria. You could still breathe them in, but they aren't alive anymore to be able to do anything to you. You'll need to make sure that if you want to have particles actually removed from the air, you get an air purifier that uses some other technology as well. I'm not aware of any that solely use UV rays, but it's always good to check.
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UV Air Purifier
Generally, there aren't going to be any health problems associated with using a UV air purifier. Ultraviolet light is bad for your skin - it's what causes skin cancer. However, the rays of light have to hit you to damage your skin, and any UV filters are always internal to the purifier. If something malfunctioned or if you break the outer shell though, I wouldn't keep using it without getting it fixed. The one health risk that you should be aware of is that some UV filters generate ozone. This can be an independent reason to worry - the EPA has warned that it can be dangerous to use air purifiers that rely on ozone because it may not disperse and is toxic if concentrated above certain levels. You need to make sure that your UV filter is a safe one - some of them kill the germs by hitting them with the light itself. Others use the light to create ozone, which also kills germs - you'll either want to avoid this or make absolutely sure that you are using it safely.
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