Thankyou for raising this important point.
You say:
>I know its been discussed before, but I thought it would be good to remind
>everyone to be cautious when working with UV light sources.
I keep my own mercury vapour UV lamps in a cupboard under a work surface. When
the are on the cupboard door is closed except when placing the work under the
lamps and then one is only exposed to the reflected light. Is exposure to
reflected light for that short time likely to cause problems ? What is the
wavelength that causes the problem ? Is it true that if one does not look
directly into the light source itself the problem either does not arise or is
minimalised to the extent that it becomes insignificant ? We should also
remember that it is not just the eyes that we are concerned with here but also
the skin. Wearing glasses may give a false sense of security. I work on the
basis of minimising exposure to UV light sources and never looking into the
lamps.
I notice that professional houses using UV lamps for long periods have sheets of
yellow film hanging round the lamps. Would this be advisable for MV lamps set up
for temporary workshops ?
I have also noticed that one is likely to receive less UV exposure if the light
source points down,which has other advantages in taking test strips for example,
as is my own and the practice where our recent gravure workshop took place, as
one does not need to look at the UV source and it is easily masked.
Terry King