I have a pair of Eagle Pair Laser Glasses/Goggles, And it can block from 190 NM to 540 NM and 900 to 1700.
Because UV is in the filter's range, Vould I use them for working with UV lights rather than lasers?
I also have UV reactive putty that I could use as a detector.
Is OD4 enough?

Eagle pair is a reasonably good brand. It depends what wavelength you are working with. OD4 should be plenty as it can defend against most strengths of laser light that the public could ever get their hands on, and incoherent light (spread out) is a (...) of a lot weaker. Watch your skin if you're working with a lot of it.

What would I wear if I were to replace the UV bulbs in, say, an Air Conditioner?

What would I wear if I were to replace the UV bulbs in, say, an Air Conditioner?

Do not power it when opened and for the necessary tests (when fixing the electrical circuits,...) have the bulbs covered...

Quote from: wattMaster on May 27, 2016, 08:08:07 AM

What would I wear if I were to replace the UV bulbs in, say, an Air Conditioner?

Do not power it when opened and for the necessary tests (when fixing the electrical circuits,...) have the bulbs covered...

It would be for inspections, Where covering it up or turning the power off is not an option.

Also, Could they be used for protection against cracked MV or MH bulbs?
And could it be used for experimenting with phosphors and germicidal lamps? (Put a germicidal lamp in an empty fluorescent tube and watch it glow)

Also, Could they be used for protection against cracked MV or MH bulbs?
And could it be used for experimenting with phosphors and germicidal lamps? (Put a germicidal lamp in an empty fluorescent tube and watch it glow)

I'm new here, but here's some advice.

If by UV, you are talking about the germicidal lamps in AC units, these are hard glass arc tubes that output 254nm light.  This is commonly known as short wave UV or UVC.  Long wave UV is what is typically known as blacklight or UVA, runs at 365nm.

If you are playing around with a lit 254nm tube, you better shield the tube, not just your eyes, because this light can give you a sunburn or melanoma.  Glasses won't help unprotected skin.  You can shield the tube with a piece of 1/8" (or thicker) polycarbonate (Lexan).

For 365nm light, all you really need is a pair of glasses with a UV coating.  This light won't give you sunburn, and it is typically used for fluorescent (blacklight) displays.

There is a third category of UV which runs around 300nm, which is called UVB, and is used for tanning beds.  It doesn't have the nasty effects of UVA, but you should wear eye protection.

Wikipedia has a good article on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet#Subtypes

Hope that helps.

BTW, I build my own filtered UVA and UVC lamps for mineral prospecting, so I am pretty familiar with this stuff.

Steve

If you are playing around with a lit 254nm tube, you better shield the tube, not just your eyes, because this light can give you a sunburn or melanoma.  Glasses won't help unprotected skin.  You can shield the tube with a piece of 1/8" (or thicker) polycarbonate (Lexan).

Would sunscreen help?

Quote from: srjacob on June 19, 2016, 10:04:20 PM

If you are playing around with a lit 254nm tube, you better shield the tube, not just your eyes, because this light can give you a sunburn or melanoma.  Glasses won't help unprotected skin.  You can shield the tube with a piece of 1/8" (or thicker) polycarbonate (Lexan).

Would sunscreen help?

You mean the protection cremes? No. They are designed just for the lower energetic parts (UV- and UV-A; they are mostly based on Zinc activating the natural protection mechanisms and the protection comes then from there; but that does not work for the short wave UV - the evolution hadn't equipped us by any protection against what does not land normally on the Earth surface)

Quote from: wattMaster on June 21, 2016, 08:00:46 PM

Quote from: srjacob on June 19, 2016, 10:04:20 PM

If you are playing around with a lit 254nm tube, you better shield the tube, not just your eyes, because this light can give you a sunburn or melanoma.  Glasses won't help unprotected skin.  You can shield the tube with a piece of 1/8" (or thicker) polycarbonate (Lexan).

Would sunscreen help?

You mean the protection cremes? No. They are designed just for the lower energetic parts (UV- and UV-A; they are mostly based on Zinc activating the natural protection mechanisms and the protection comes then from there; but that does not work for the short wave UV - the evolution hadn't equipped us by any protection against what does not land normally on the Earth surface)

Are there other sunscreens which do block UVC?

All I know use just the ZnO powder and some support oil and maybe some vitamine mix.

Then how can you protect your skin from UVC?

Cover...
Normally the sun does not delivers that much of the UVC, the oxygen (and mainly the high altitude ozone) absorbs it. The ZnO helps a little, but only for the parts, which are natural in the sunlight (and the body has developed protection mechanisms against it; the ZnO just activates them, nothing else)