8. Exposure to Ultraviolet Radiation from Fluorescent Lamps

Fluorescent lamps for general lighting come in different powers, sizes and phosphors to emit visible radiant energy. A plastic cover called diffuser that is placed over the lamp effectively eliminates all ultraviolet radiation from the lamp. However, if there is no cover over the lamp and the glass envelope of the lamp is defective and has metal impurities in it, the ultraviolet radiation (UVR) emission from the lamp can cause significant cumulative damage to human eyes and skin. Safety standards for lamps and lighting equipment specify that the effective UVR exposure, i.e. spectrally weighted, has to be below 0.001 W/m². This level of human exposure to UVR has no photobiological hazard to skin and eyes. ICNIRP, see Ref. [27], standard limits the UVR exposure energy to human skin and eyes at 30 Joules/m². With this standard UVR exposure energy limit, the maximum effective UVR exposure duration can be calculated using Equation 8-1.