Does glass filter UV from sunlight???? in other words, is it possible to sunburn or tan through glass??

[0roo0roo]

??

 

[AlienCraft]

Normal glass will filter some of the longer wavelength UV. Yes it is possible to burn under glass.

 

[fatalbert]

regular glass blocks very little UV, only the polarized glass in certain sunglasses actually filters out some of the UV light

 

[theNEOone]

no, glass does not bloack UV. that's why if you use a UV spectrometer in any of your labs you can use a quartz cuvette (glass)

alot of glass is treated, however.

 

[Joemonkey]

that wouldn't make much sense would it, since tanning beds have bulbs that are encased in glass..

 

[dighn]

nm

 

[JonnyB]

the bulbs are encased in special glass in a tanning bed. normal glass doesn't block the rays which generate a lot of the heat you get unless it has a special coating (which reduces the "solar heat gain coefficient") however it will block the UV rays which cause you to get a sunburn.

 

[0roo0roo]

how about glass in cars? sometimes drivers have to drive in the sun for long periods of time, u know what i mean ur getting nailed and ur passenger is sorta shaded

 

[JonnyB]

i found some more info. i guess glass doesn't block UVA rays, but it does block UVB. UVB is responsible for most of the tanning and burning because it doesn't penetrate very deeply into the skin. UVA penetrates deeper and causes more of the problems. I guess.

so the answer is yes and no.

edit: another source says that window glass transmits less than 10% of the suns UV rays.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: JonnyB
i found some more info. i guess glass doesn't block UVA rays, but it does block UVB. UVB is responsible for most of the tanning and burning because it doesn't penetrate very deeply into the skin. UVA penetrates deeper and causes more of the problems. I guess.

so the answer is yes and no.

edit: another source says that window glass transmits less than 10% of the suns UV rays.

hmm getting interesting!!


always wondered u know. or else we'd have warnings to use sunblock even while inside right?

 

[Moonbeam]

My understanding is that pure quartz glass, yes.

 

[theNEOone]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
My understanding is that pure quartz glass, yes.

you've got that backwards. pure quartz allows all light in the UV spectrum (~100-400nm wavelengths) to pass through.

 

[Analog]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam
My understanding is that pure quartz glass, yes.

yep. that's why uv-eproms have quartz glass windows. Regular 'cheap' pane glass doesn't transmit all UV wavelengths. I remember reading about some sun rooms in mansions use quartz glass for that very reason.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: fatalbert
regular glass blocks very little UV, only the polarized glass in certain sunglasses actually filters out some of the UV light

its not the polarization its a coating thats opaque to that kind of light. there are lots of uv blockers that aren't polarized.