Re: UV light measurement instruments and regulations

[Michael Williamson <m.williamson@mailbox.uq.edu.au>]

Roger and other interested Radsfers:

For guidance on exposure limits, you should refer to the "IRPA guidelines
on protection against non-ionizing radiation" Published by Pergamon in
1991.  I'm not sure whether the guidelines  have been republished since
ICNIRP was formed.  The UV recommendations havent changed since then - as
far as I know.  There's an ICNIRP web page
http://www.irpa.at/irpa/icnirp.htm but it doesnt contain details of the
limits - they probably want you to buy the book!

Your choice of instrument depends on what you want to measure:  I would
recommend you get hold of the catalog put out by International Light Inc
http://www.intl-light.com/.  Even if you don't buy one of their instruments
it's still a good source of information, rather like the Ortec and Canberra
catalogues are in gamma spec.

The Solar Light company http://www.solar.com/ also sells high quality
instruments and would be worth considering.

A long list of UV instrument manufacturers can be found at
http://www.srrb.noaa.gov/UV/instruments.html

I've got a Macam UV103 instrument with separate filters for UVB, UVA and
254 nm: it's a good unit for industrial UV hazards where you know what
wavelengths are involved, but it's a bit fiddly if you need to change
filters in the field.



>I have a need to assess a UV light source and could use some
>information.
>
>First, I am looking for an instrument to measure UV light levels. I have
>done some searching on the web and looked through a few catalogs and
>have not been able to find much. I have not yet determined the type of
>UV light present(A, B or C) but I would imagine that a vendor could
>supply me with the appropriate instrument once I figure that out.
>
>I also did not have much better luck in finding info on exposure limits.
>I had done some work on non-ionizing safety a while back but it was
>almost exclusively related to lasers. I could not find a corresponding
>body of information on regulation of UV exposures. Could someone point
>me in the right direction? The OSHA regs I looked at do not seem to
>address it other than from exposure to welding activities.
>



Michael Williamson
(m.williamson@mailbox.uq.edu.au )

Radiation Protection Adviser

Occupational Health & Safety Unit
University of Queensland
Brisbane 4072
Australia

ph +61 7 3365 4504
fax +61 7 3365 1577

The opinions expressed in this communication are those of the writer:
unless explicitly stated they should not be taken as representing the
official policies or views of the University of Queensland.