UV on our eyes

[jonpat83]

How safe is the UV lighting for our eyes, everyone knows you shouldn't stare at the sun and obviosly the same would go for uv lights, but do they cause us any damage to our eyes when we spend long periods of time looking into our chams enclosures?

 

[ChromaChameleons]

good question. Its not only UVB that is of concern but also the possible spikes of visible light that some UVB lamps may produce, within the none UVB spectrum..

Regarding UVB, a typical 5.0 lamp will produce approximately 40 uW/cm2 at a distance of 6 inches when it is new. Where as, the sun at high noon will produce 150 uW/cm2 or greater .

Just like the sun, I wouldnt stare directly into a UVB lamp either .

Also consider that a cham that is under these lights its whole life , does not suffer eye damage either, except in exreme cases, such as the faulty Compact Flourescent UVB coiled bulbs recently on the market.

Also some MH and MV lamps may have much stronger intensities of some visible light frequencies.

A good read can be had at this site: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

 

[jonpat83]

Thanks for the info, theres a lot of good reading on that link, thanks

 

[kinyonga]

Here's some information about UV and eyes...
www.medem.com/medlb/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ634TGZLC&sub_cat=0
www.optometrists.asn.au/eyevision/consumers/uv