question about blacklights

[aphorism]

what i want to know is how much flux, or radiant energy, (or whatever you optics people call it) a standard 40W black light lamp outputs relative to the sun, and at UVA frequencies. for example is one hour of sunlight exposure equal to 10 hours of blacklight exposure? an explanation would be helpful too. im using two 40W lamps and if you need any other info i can give it to you.

the reason why i ask this is because i have a blacklight in my dorm (looks awesome) and i want to know if it going to make me age really fast. i have no clue how much UVA it outputs. maybe i'm being ridiculous or paranoid, idk.

 

[PsiStar]

prolly depends on whose the bulb maker is, but check this Fluorescent Black Light Blue

 

[Ben90]

You can tell by the amount of tanning on your skin. If you don't tan at all, then its not really a big deal.

 

[Throckmorton]

You like your dorm room looking like a cheesy bowling alley??

I can't remember which UV is bad or if all types are bad, but you should be most worried about the long term damage to your cornea.

 

[PsiStar]

Completely cover your windows with red cellophane ... especially good if you are the sunny side.

 

[aphorism]

prolly depends on whose the bulb maker is, but check this Fluorescent Black Light Blue

thanks but this does not satisfy my curiosity. i want a highly technical answer or at least an explanation of how to calculate irradiance or whatever unit i am looking for.

 

[PsiStar]

thanks but this does not satisfy my curiosity. i want a highly technical answer or at least an explanation of how to calculate irradiance or whatever unit i am looking for.

Then as I said the 1st time, it depends on the manufacturer. So you must provide more information about the bulb(s) that you have. Who makes it & the model number.

 

[Rubycon]

You have to remember the only difference between a black light blue lamp and a standard 40W CW lamp is the phosphor. Electrically they have the same input. The "arc" internally is the same.

The UV output is nowhere near high enough with these lamps to cause eye or skin issues. It may cause color shift until your eyes adopt if you stay in a room with nothing but BLB illumination, however. It's similar to suba diving when you surface and everything looks pink for a while. Even still it takes a lot of 400nm centered BLB to do that. You may experience headaches too working under solely BLB light as things tend to look blurry and your eyes try to focus on subjects illuminated by this light. 😉