Posted by gary g (208.133.217.196) on November 19, 1999 at 13:49:54:
In Reply to: full spectrum light posted by Dick on November 19, 1999 at 07:29:08:
good solid information Dick
Thanks
VitaLite is familiar to me, it is Duro's brand of color-corrected "full spectrum" bulb -
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why I asked about TYPE of bulb:
people DON'T want to get near a UV (ultraviolet) light if they don't know what they're doing
they are VERY VERY dangerous-
can blind you quite easily
we have one we use for mineralogy
they're also used in sterilizing surfaces (everything from medical equipment to bowling shoes), identifying materials, etc.
the true so-called "black light"
(NOT the purple bulbs sold in novelty stores etc,for decorative use,poster lighting etc, which take a normal LOW intensity lightbulb & filter out all but the visible purple & a tiny UV part of the spectrum - the intensity (quantity) of the UV light is minimal)
a ggod way to tell is availability & price
real UV lights are VERY expensive and not readily available except thru scientific, medical & geological supply houses
until the early 60s you could still buy a real UV bulb, that looked like a regular round lightbub - used for the above mentioned purposes - they had a strange disc in them instead of a filament - (I had one I got in a rock collecting kit in the 50s)but they got taken off the market because people started getting in trouble with them when the psychodelic decorating trend came in
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some UV component in light is VERY important to our health, I think I read once it is required for synthesis of some vitamins;
but it is a REAL touchy thing to fool around with artificially
UV light is what the whole greenhouse effect, etc is primarily about - - we don't need the ozone directly - we need it to filter out UV light from the sun - when that filtering effect breaks down, too much UV comes in and we get seriously injured by it (high cancer rates in the extreme southern latitudes, etc)
in fact, the high-intensity therapy lights, like the one I've started experimenting with, have filters to cut out the UV component in the emitted light - because even the amount emitted by a HIGN INTENSITY full spectrum bulb is dangerous
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