#Uv black light bulbs walmart skin#
#Uv black light bulbs walmart portable#

The bottom is an F8T5/BLB 12-inch, 8-watt tube, used in a portable battery-powered black light sold as a pet urine detector.įluorescent black light tubes are typically made in the same fashion as normal fluorescent tubes except that a phosphor that emits UVA light instead of visible white light is used on the inside of the tube. The top is a F15T8/BLB 18-inch, 15-watt tube, used in a standard plug-in fluorescent fixture. Two black light fluorescent tubes, showing use. Additionally, UV-A can have negative effects on eyes in both the short-term and long-term.

#Uv black light bulbs walmart skin#

UV-A may also contribute to the progression of skin cancers. According to the World Health Organization, UV-A is responsible for the initial tanning of skin and it contributes to skin ageing and wrinkling. UV-A presents a potential hazard when eyes and skin are exposed, especially to high power sources. Strong sources of long-wave ultraviolet light are used in tanning beds. Black lights are employed for decorative and artistic lighting effects, diagnostic and therapeutic uses in medicine, the detection of substances tagged with fluorescent dyes, rock-hunting, scorpion-hunting, the detection of counterfeit money, the curing of plastic resins, attracting insects and the detection of refrigerant leaks affecting refrigerators and air conditioning systems. In medicine, forensics, and some other scientific fields, such a light source is referred to as a Wood's lamp, named after Robert Williams Wood, who invented the original Wood's glass UV filters.Īlthough many other types of lamp emit ultraviolet light with visible light, black lights are essential when UV-A light without visible light is needed, particularly in observing fluorescence, the colored glow that many substances emit when exposed to UV. This stands for 'blacklight'.īlacklight sources may be specially designed fluorescent lamps, mercury-vapor lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, or incandescent lamps. These tubes are made for use in ' bug zapper' insect traps, and are identified by the industry designation 'BL'. A second type of lamp produces ultraviolet but does not have the filter material, so it produces more visible light and has a blue color when operating. Blacklight lamps which have this filter have a lighting industry designation that includes the letters 'BLB'.

One type of lamp has a violet filter material, either on the bulb or in a separate glass filter in the lamp housing, which blocks most visible light and allows through UV, so the lamp has a dim violet glow when operating. The violet glow of a black light is not the UV light itself, but visible light that escapes being filtered out by the filter material in the glass envelope.Ī blacklight, also called a UV-A light, Wood's lamp, or ultraviolet light, is a lamp that emits long-wave ( UV-A) ultraviolet light and very little visible light. For other uses, see Black Light (disambiguation).