Hello,
Thank you for this discussion. I tried to follow the chemical interactions, and sort of got lost. I was interested in finding out why halogen bulbs release UV rays. Anyone who is sensitive to UV discovers this rather quickly (true also for fluorescent bulbs). Perhaps this question is not relevant to your post. If so...sorry :) (I only took one course in high school chemistry--which I enjoyed--many, many years ago.)
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Hi, @agmoore. Can you tell me where you missed the post, I might come in. Sorry about that though.
Regarding your question about halogen bulbs. Halogen lamp or bulb is a type of lamp that emits light when heated. It contains a bulb that's filled with a noble gas mixed with halogen (most especially iodine or bromine) under very high pressure. It emits UV because it requires a very high temperature to function. Halogen lamp works at a very high temperature, so it produce more UV light, just like the sun. I hope you know that the sun too emits UV light and it's even more intense now due to the depletion of the ozone layer that's meant to shield the excess UV light from the sun, as a result of our incessant burning of fuels and release of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere.
So, basically, halogen lamp emits UV and can cause skin cancer and some other harmful effect because it requires a whole lot of heat to function. But the harmful effects can be reduced through the use of special casing to cover the lamp.
Thank you for coming.
Hello @empressteemah,
Thank for that thoughtful response. I am kind of a human barometer for UV. The sun, fluorescent lamps, halogens--exposure to all of these (any UV source) is harmful for me. However, LEDs seem to be fine. So I guess LEDs do not contain a noble gas that has to be super-heated.
And, yes, I notice a well-screened bulb is much more tolerable than one that is unscreened.
Thank you again for that informative reply.