UV Light - The Dangers and Benefits When people think about UV light they usually imagine lying out on the beach, the sun shining high above, searing the sky and surf and slowly roasting them to a delectable lobster red. With the sun's force tempered by the Winter, people tend to forget about the dangers of UV, think that the cloud cover or lowered temperatures mean that their skin is safe, that there's no risk of burning or worse. This is wrong, and since each passing year brings about further erosion of the ozone layer's protection, it is especially important to learn about the realities of UV light, and how we can best protect ourselves from its pervasive threat.

What is UV light? Simply put, it's electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength that's shorter than that of visible light, and longer than x-rays. Visible light, UV rays, x-rays-all of these are just names for different wavelengths of electromagnetic rays. It's called ultra-violet because these frequencies are higher than the wavelengths that we humans identify as violet. There are five kinds of UV light, but the first two, Vacuum UV and Far UV are both completely absorbed by the atmosphere.

UVC is also rarely found on our planet due to its absorption by the atmosphere, but is sometimes used in germicidal lamps due to its ability to kill germs. UVC is absorbed by the outer, dead layers of our skin, and can cause corneal burns (commonly termed welders' flash) and snow blindness, a severe sunburn of the face. Though extremely painful, UVC burns usually clear up in a couple of days.

UVB is the most dangers of the commonly encountered forms of UV. It has enough energy to wreak photochemical havoc on our cellular DNA, but not enough to be absorbed by the atmosphere like UVC. UVB is needed by our skin to generate Vitamin D, but too much exposure can cause sunburn, cataracts and can lead to skin cancer. People who work outside are at the most risk of these dangers, and cloud cover is not enough protection to block UVB.

UVA is the most commonly found form of UV, and is responsible for the tanning effect we see in our skin after time spent in sunlight, and can cause sunburn if exposure is excessive. The atmosphere does very little to block this kind of UV, and it's needed to help generate Vitamin D. However, too much exposure can cause our skin to grow tough, hard, and wrinkled. It can also suppress the immune system and cause the creation of cataracts. Most tanning booths and phototherapy use this kind of UVA.

UV light has too much energy for us. While visible light does little to our skin, UV is to jazzed up. They create heat in the same way that rubbing your hands does-but instead of simply causing the molecules of our skin to vibrate they can actually knock electrons right out of the atoms, or cause molecules to split. This results in a change of the chemical structure of the molecule. This change is especially dangers to living organisms, as changing the composition of your DNA can lead to mutations, which can lead to cancer.

So be careful with exposure to the sun. Even during the winter it's likely that you're being exposed to UVA and UVB, and with skin cancer rates rocketing, it's critical that we take care of ourselves by reducing time spent in the sun and being sure to protect our skin from UV when we're out and about.

Adult female Centruroides gracilis under UV light.

UV Light - The Way to Make Every Hot Air Heating and Air Conditioning System Better

Ultra Violet light has been used in the process of disinfection for many years. It is still used for that purpose, especially when it comes to the disinfection of air. UV light is short for ultraviolet light which is a light with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays. UV light is a very effective way to kill bacteria by messing up their DNA. It also kills germs that cause sick building syndrome.

Germicidal UV lights have been used for decades by the medical industry as a method for killing micro-organisms (germs, viruses, bacteria). This type of light has proven that it is effective in reducing the airborne micro-organisms that pass directly through the light rays. The effect that the light has on micro-organisms and bacteria depends on the intensity of the light, the distance from the light that the organism passes, and the time that the light has to affect the organism.

There are many options for installing these lights in your heating and air conditioning system. Usually the light is inserted into the return air plenum. The air passes through the ductwork and by the light. This will eventually kill the bad stuff in your air. For those organisms that survive the trip a time or two, they will get more and more exposure with each time that they pass through the light rays. Eventually the exposure will kill them.

In larger systems it may take more than one light to get the exposure that is needed to kill effectively. The only caution that I have is to be careful of the exposure of some plastics and other materials to UV light as it tends to breakdown some materials just as sunlight will.

If you have any concerns about the indoor air quality of your home or public facility, make sure you check out the

UV light. Ultra Violet light may also be the final line of defense against those diseases that have developed resistance to drugs, such as tuberculosis and others. These lights are very dependable and can be easily installed in HVAC ducts or a plenum. They also have the added benefit of reducing mold & germs. The reduction of mold, germs and algae will also help to improve your HVAC system performance.

Overall installing any kind of Ultra Violet light in your heating or air conditioning system can only be a good thing for you. I have installed these lights in medical buildings such as a doctor's office and they have seen immediate effects. Not only was the air more healthy, but the reduction of the bad stuff in the air resulted in less time off for the employees because of sickness.

Black Light Bulbs Black and light are two terms that do not go together when the meaning is taken literally. However there is a whole genre of black light bulbs in the lighting market. They have several specialized applications.

The use of black light bulbs makes things glow in the dark. There are two basic types of black light bulbs. Black lights available in fluorescent lights produce 100% UV energy while black light bulbs only emit a faint purple light.

Black light bulbs are a popular choice for Halloween decorations. Black lights in fluorescent tubes for black light effects are also very popular for this purpose.

Black light fluorescent lamps contain a special element known as a phosphor. Upon being activated, a fluorescent black light bulb emits its UV energy. This energy is also referred to as UVA energy. Black light or "near ultraviolet" energy ranges from 310 nanometers to 400 nanometers in the electromagnetic spectrum. The human eye can distinguish energy only between 400 to 700 nanometer wavelengths. It is these wavelengths that cause the phenomenon of fluorescence, making the lighting provided by these bulbs attractive. In the range of about 370 nanometers, the radiation enters the visible range to produce a small amount of bluish light.

The black light lamp has found many uses in industry and home use as well. Black light uses in the industrial scenario include inspection for cracks, leaks, and other flaws during manufacturing and quality control checks. Used commercially, they have been found to be extrememly useful by cafes and night clubs for fluorescing costumes and decorations as well as for insect traps and psychedelic lighting. Another popular commercial use of black light bulbs is outdoor and indoor advertising, window displays, and theatrical and television scenery lighting.

Used by the police and other monitoring agencies, black lighting is used for identification and marking of objects, photocopy inspection, detection of counterfeit money and bank notes, petroleum geology, stamp examination, chemistry, embalming, luminous instrument panels.

Black light bulbs thus have varied applications that are both functional and ornamental.

Why You Need A Blacklight To Clean Cat Urine Of all the foul smells in the world a skunk's odor is probably the worst but a close second in my opinion is the smell of cat urine. My brother-in-law had several cats and he didn't keep the litter box clean so the cats ran rampant and when you walked into his apartment you were overwhelmed with the stench of cat urine. Trust me, on a hot Texas day it makes for a very disgusting and short visit.

Fortunately most of us have better housekeeping habits than he did and keep litter boxes clean but occasionally we are faced with kitty urinating or spraying where they weren't supposed to and we must clean the urine up.

But, it's not just a simple matter of wiping up any cat urine you come across and thinking you are done. Oh no, there is so much more to it than that.

Since cats are not big water drinkers compared to other animals their urine is highly concentrated and very potent smelling. Also, cat urine is a very complex substance made up of several different bacteria strains. Some cause the pungent odor and some cause the stain that can at times be invisible.

Now, if you wipe up cat urine with any household cleaner you might think you have cleaned the mess up but in reality all you did was to clean the liquid you could see. The odor causing bacteria will remain in the form of uric acid salts that bond to surfaces and the smell will be back in no time. This is particularly true if the area gets wet as this reactivates the crystals and is why most typical cleaners do not clean the smell but just spread it around even more.

In fact, cats like that urine smell and will often urinate in the same spot over and over while you pull your hair out trying to figure out why they are doing it. After all, you are cleaning it up right away aren't you?

The problem comes back to those pesky uric acid salts. They can't be washed away because of the bonding action and in order to clean cat urine completely you need an enzyme based pet urine remover. The enzymes will eat the bacteria in the salts and presto your urine odor is gone. Note that if it's a stubborn spot you might need to clean more than once.

The biggest problem you will have in cleaning cat urine is finding the spots to clean, especially old spots. That is why you need a blacklight to show you where the stains are hidden. Using a blacklight in a darkened room will make any urine stains glow so you will know not only where to clean but you will be able to check afterwards to make sure you cleaned the urine spot completely.

You can buy a blacklight at a party store like Spencer's Gifts where they are sold to create special effects and enhance glow in the dark posters. Some cat urine cleaners will also include a blacklight with the product so you don't have to buy one separately.

Cleaning cat urine can be an easy task if you use the right tools. A good cat urine remover combined with a blacklight will give you the best chance at completely removing that cat urine smell that is so disgusting.

See From a Different Perspective With Black Light Bulbs Black light bulbs have been around for decades. Once considered a psychedelic gimmick, they have become a mainstay in society. This special part of the light spectrum, known as ultraviolet light, is not noticeable under normal visible lighting conditions. Some objects take on a bright or glowing hue when exposed to black lights.

There are many uses for them. Whether incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs, they have scientific, practical and recreational uses. They come in many shapes and sizes and are available in stores and on-line.

Media and Forensics

With the popularity of television shows focusing on forensic crime labs on the rise, black light bulbs have come to the forefront. The CSI series regularly features crime solving in the lab with help from other gadgets and instruments. More than one case has been cracked by blood stains or bodily fluid showing up on a wall or under a microscope featuring these special lights.

Chemicals

Some objects require a chemical reaction to make them illuminate. One example is white paper. When it is created, chemicals are sometimes added to make it appear brighter and cleaner in regular lighting. This additive started about 50 years ago. As a result, most plain white paper and some white cotton T-shirts glow in the dark when exposed to the ultraviolet end of the spectrum.

Natural Effects

Many everyday materials glow under this type of lighting without adding anything. Legos, petroleum jelly and club soda all fit in this category. Some vegetables, like spinach or chard, may emit color under this type of light.

Black lights in aquariums or terrariums has increased in popularity for school children, especially as science projects. Some creatures glow, while others just have a luminescent habitat at the flick of a switch.

Bar Industry

Many nightclubs have jumped on the black light bandwagon. Using this type of lighting on dance floors or over bars creates a mystical and festive atmosphere. Patrons are often encouraged to wear white clothing. The bar industry has also taken to using plastic products that glow, adding to the aura as servers walk around with glowing trays.

Many of the specialty drinks served feature alcoholic beverages that glow under these conditions. Blue Curacao, food coloring and tonic water are three elements that illuminate beverages under black lights. Absinthe, some sports drinks and certain flavors of Jell-o have the same effect.

Safety

One of the most popular industrial uses for black light is in the safety arena. Fluorescent and phosphorescent materials will illuminate to reveal fuel tank leaks, measurement marks and invisible chalkboard notations, allowing things to be seen in special conditions that do not need to be seen by the naked eye in normal lighting. Military operations and spacecraft excursions use these special features as well.

Dust Mites Ultraviolet Light Air Purification Systems - The Benefits Ultraviolet light (UV) is a form of electronic radiation having shorter wavelengths than with visible regions. UV Ultraviolet light is not in the visible spectrum. What this means is that human beings can not actually "see" true UV light just as we cannot hear high pitches sounds that our pet dog may well hear. UV light come with three types of ultraviolet wavelengths, such as long wave (UV-A), medium wave (UV-B), and short wave (UV-C).

UV air purifiers and air ventilation purification systems, that are used to disinfect and kill bacteria, dust mites and such plagues as Swine Flu viruses belong to the short wavelengths or what are referred to as "Group UV-C " that is those light spectrum with a distance or length of 254 nanometers. This classification of Ultraviolet light spectrum is generally held in the heating, furnace and air conditioning trades as more than enough to kills the "bug's" DNA, which further results to damage to those household or food industry commercial pests. In many homes the concerns are of "dust mites". Dust mites are tiny little microscopic organisms that can and will grow in bed "clothes" and in bedding. Dust mites linger in homes airflow, are circulated by central furnace ventilation systems. The air circulation of your home may well be circulating and spreading the dust mite resulting in allergies, allergy symptoms and asthma. Cell walls. Medical science has proven and you can bet that UV lights - especially in professional quality UV lamp filtration systems can and reduce dust mite levels in your home and provide for clinical level reductions in dust mite and other pathogen levels. Simple air cleaners and even electronic air cleaners, while they remove simple particles of dust, will not successfully remove the threats of dust mites, viruses such as Swine Flu or H5N1 bird flu and the like successfully. If your doctor or allergist medical specialist has told you to reduce dust mites in your home or to cover your bedding with plastic covers to control dust mite and mites then perhaps its time to seriously consider to have a UV light furnace filtration system installed or have your furnace system replaced or upgraded.

By and large in hospital settings UV Light Air Purifier are a standard that are usually embedded in hospital's operating room and in germ-free production processes. Over the years, ultraviolet becomes successful in waste

and water administration. However, researchers found it difficult to implement in purifying air.

There's another kind of air purifier, like HEPA purifier, used in sterilizing the air. It is capable of killing bacteria but not viruses due to its little size. Air purifiers usually have dead insects inside, as well as other fungal species which contributes in reproduction of microorganisms. Meanwhile, researchers proved that UV light is capable of purifying air by virus and bacteria killing. The system must be embedded in ventilation system to destroy viruses, dust mites, bugs and bacteria.

Lastly what about UV lights and their use in infection spread and allergy control in office settings? Here to these filtration systems are proving their mettle and value. Upon installation in many office and commercial settings research has shown that once the UV disinfectant and purification filtration lamp systems are installed in air duct system among that results showed major and consistent ongoing reductions on respiratory and allergy symptoms among workers.

The process of killing microorganisms is called sterilization, while the process of reducing microbial populations is called disinfection. Exposure to UV light laboratory 10,000 higher than light from the sun will result to sterilization for a specific period of time. However, bacteria can still multiply on unprotected areas with installed insulation, crevices, or on places with high foot traffic from visitors and pets.

Normally, UV air purifiers emit 40,000 micro-watts. It will reduce its power when covered. Meanwhile, lamp wattage, design, distance, and reflectivity can affect UV dosage.

Lastly just to reassure those who are concerned about risks involved with UV lights that Ultraviolet light under category UV-C, are safe, do not pass through clothing or eye glasses. However UV lights it can irritate the eyes of those people who do not have having cataract or suffer from cancer. As well light from the UV spectrum can also cause redness of the skin when expose on longer to UV light. However the beauty of internal ventilation system UV light and lamps disinfectant and filtration systems is that the lamps themselves are part of the internal furnace or ventilation system and are shielded from direct view. Thus Ultraviolet light ventilation air purification filtration systems offer a safe and effective means of dust mite, allergy and infection control.

Black Light Posters Black lights are becoming more and more popular. Black lights are used for art, decoration, medicine, and more. Because of the way the light is emitted, black lights enhance fluorescent patterns. This opens the door for many different forms of black light decorations. One of the most common decoration is black posters. You can also buy hand held lights. These can be very handy, because they can spot dirt that regular light doesn't show. These are usually battery operated lights.

Black light forms are a light form that gets very close to the ultra-violet spectrum. Because of this, it is able to illuminate certain colors, and is useful in a variety of other situations. Black light posters are a great form of decoration that are only possible because of black.

Black Light Posters are forms of art that are made possible by black technology. Black paint is used to form the base of these posters. Usually, black posters are made on a black poster board. This is so the most attention will be devoted to the paint. If the poster was white, or another color, the black would amplify it completely. Often, white is turned into a very bright blue. After the poster board is set down, fluorescent paint is applied to the poster in various shapes and designs. Often, these black posters look very dull without a black. However, put one on, and they shine and look incredible.

Another common use for black is make up. Many performers in Broadway shows or circuses will use black make up. This is because it can be seen from very far away, and it looks great. This type of make up is usually applied to the face area. It's also common to use black make up for Halloween parties or other costume parties.

Handheld black can be a lot of fun to use, and also very useful. These are usually battery operated lights, and they are portable. These have a variety of uses. These can range from anything to using a battery operated light for fun, to detecting if money is counterfeit. Antique appraisers also keep a small battery operated light for checking for faults or flaws in the antique's they are buying. Several battery operated lights can also give a great effect at parties and other events.

Making a Black Light Poster - Your Complete Guide A black light poster is fashioned by fluorescent inks that respond to 'black' light or the ultraviolet rays. Under usual circumstances, it appears bright and vibrant, though when exposed to the ultraviolet rays, it astoundingly glows in the dark. Here is a simple guide in making one.

Fluorescent ink attracts ultraviolet light and discharges it as a visible and very vivid light. This makes the poster appear like glowing once the black light is switched on. You should make sure that you browse through the variety of craft paints that are fluorescent, thus you can create it with your favorite hues and shades.

You will need brushes, fluorescent poster paints, permanent marker (black), scissors, stencils, pictures, poster board, glue, pencil and tape. You can either purchase the stencils or you can make your own. If you want to design your stencil, you just have to tape or glue your preferred picture or photograph onto a piece of cardboard

and just get the main shapes and images. Mark your stencils out onto a poster board. Make use of a standard graphite pencil, and trace the figure with sufficient force to create a light line.

Making black light poster will require you to use permanent marker to darken the lines. This will result to having bold border between your chosen images. Gather your poster paints. You should then turn the lights off, open the black light and assess the paints. Note that the colors they reflect under the black light are the colors that will appear on your poster.

After selecting the colors, paint the shapes on your poster. Don't forget to apply a fairly dim colored paint in the background of the poster. If you want it with a wild effect and appeal, it's best to make use of UV paint. Though it appears clear under normal light, it glows daringly when exposed.

Water Purification Using Ultraviolet Light In this day and age, millions of people are looking for ways to purify their water. Most of us go through tons of different filtration systems, trying to come up with the best way to clean our water. The bad news is the fact that people have reasons why they should be worried. If you do not get your water from the city, then that means you get your water from lakes, streams and, of course, private wells. Unfortunately, a lot of these systems do not have clean water, and things like E. Coli and other types of bacteria can come up from time to time. The quality of the water that you are drinking can vary from day to day. Even if you get your water from the city, it is not going to be 100% bacteria free. There are a number of ways that things can contaminate your water. However, today we are going to talk about a way that you can keep your water clean and pure!

This new way of keeping your water clean is known as a UV water purification system. A lot of people have a hard time understanding how UV lights work to clean things, because it is invisable to the naked eye. Of course, we know that UV rays are at work, because they are the leading cause of sunburns when we go outside. There are special lamps that we can use that actually put out UV lights . These UV lights then can be used to disinfect water. Pretty much, UV lights work by attaching themselves to the genetic core or bacteria and viruses. From there, it pretty much clerestories their function to be able to reproduce. Although this may seem like a very simple process, it is very effective. They say that UV lights are able to kill up to 99.9% of all harmful

microorganisms. This is all done without adding any kind of chemicals or anything harmful to the water.

So why should you go with a UV water purification system. What are the benefits of it? Sure, it is going to clean your water, but there are other systems out there that do the same. Well, one reason why you would want to go with this kind of system is because it is highly effective. In fact, a lot of companies around the world are already using this kind of system to clean water that goes into bottled water. Another reason would be because it is chemical free. The UV lights add nothing harmful to the water. A lot of other systems can add harmful chlorine into your water. Best of all, the UV lights are, of course, taste and odor free. Sometimes you can smell different chemicals that could have been added into the water to kill microorganism. However, the UV lights leave nothing behind at all. All you are left with is the fresh clean taste of pure water. As you can see, these kinds of purification systems really are the best and should be the main source of your water. Make the switch. You will be happy you did.

The Benefits of Full Spectrum Lighting - An Overview Many years ago, my wife and I were health care professionals working primarily with what was then termed hyperactivity (or childhood hyperactivity). The terminology has changed over the years and the latest description of this disorder (in both adults and children) is ADD/ADHD or attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactive disorder. Like many professionals, we developed an interest in this disorder because we had children suffering from it (and we later found out that we, too, were ADD/ADHD adults!).

During our research and education regarding this disorder we also discovered that some researchers were also investigating a link between ADD/ADHD and SAD or seasonal affective disorder. SAD is unfortunately one of those conditions that is often dumped into a bag of "pseudo-disorders" including chronic fatigue syndrome and even PMS at one time.

During the winter months, particularly in the northern climes, sunlight is often at a premium and this lack of enough natural sunlight is the culprit that causes SAD and what some call the "winter blues". I, personally, see no real differentiation between the two except perhaps in the degree to which sunlight deprivation affects an individual. Fortunately, the NIH (National Institute of Health) formally recognized SAD as a bona-fide disorder in 1982.

The 40 million or so individuals who suffer from the effects of sunlight deprivation have a biochemical deficiency in the production of a neurotransmitter called serotonin that is, in part, produced by natural sunlight. SAD is not to be taken lightly because it has a pervasive affect on nearly all areas of a person's ability to function on the job, in a relationship or just being "with" themselves. The most pronounced symptoms are generalized and often severe feelings of sadness and even depression. Without any logical basis for these feelings, these individuals often become anxious (experience anxiety) and wonder if they are going crazy. Those living or working with a SAD individual will often notice irritability, excessive eating and food cravings and a general loss of interest in social involvement. Oh yes, oversleeping or the desire to "hibernate" is also a common characteristic.

Fortunately there is a relatively simple and inexpensive way to compensate and reverse the symptom complex of SAD. The answer is exposure to what is called full spectrum lighting. Full spectrum lighting has been used for many years as a growth enhancer for indoor plants being grown in parts of the world where there is a lack of sufficient sunshine all year.

The full spectrum light fixture(s) in essence, trick our light receptors and then our brain into experiencing the light as genuine sunlight. Sufficient exposure to full spectrum light has been scientifically demonstrated to decrease and in some cases eliminate the aforementioned SAD symptoms.

While this is a great boon to those actually suffering from SAD, what about the general population? While the non-SAD population may not suffer the intensity of symptoms experienced by those with SAD, they, too, need adequate, year-round sunlight to maintain optimum health and to avoid some of the lesser manifestations of the SAD syndrome. Studies have shown that proper levels of sunlight (real or simulated) increases the ability of the immune system to fight off disease, increases measured intelligence and even stimulates our energy levels to a higher level.

Since these facts have been published with governmental endorsement, why does the problem persist in many environments? In the workplace, there remain skeptics. These skeptics are more interested in maintaining their opinions and beliefs than they are in seriously considering the facts: "I've got my mind made up - don't confuse me with the facts". So, the place that most of us spend the majority of our waking hours, the workplace, continues to use antiquated (yet inexpensive) fluorescent lighting as its primary method of illuminating the factory or the office. The consequent stress, fatigue and reduced morale and work productivity is written off as the worker's inborn tendency to get away with less than they are capable of.

Upgrading to full spectrum fluorescent lighting is fairly expensive although the cost per unit has been coming down over the past few years. The interesting thing is that companies that have upgraded to full spectrum lighting have in many cases reported very positive results including decreased absenteeism, higher levels of productivity and better work performance.

If you are working in an office and have supplemental lighting in the form of a desk lamp, you can take matters into your own hands and purchase full spectrum fluorescent bulbs yourself that have adapters that will fit into your desk lamp. Your investment is in your own health and well being and if the company also benefits, so much the better.

At home, get what is called a "light box" or any device that provides full spectrum light. Expose yourself to the light on dismal winter mornings for the amount of time suggested by the manufacturer. Use the aforementioned fluorescent "bulbs" in place of the traditional incandescents in your lamps. You will notice the difference.