Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for May 13, 2020. Another week into the coronavirus pandemic, and the snake oil continues to flow, especially relative to the usage of ultraviolet (UV) emissions to disinfect surfaces and the air.
There is some good information out there, but it’s hard to sort the good from the bad. And make no mistake. I’m no expert. I’m just trying to err on the side of caution in guiding our coverage and the most important adage — first do no harm. We have more resources coming for you on the topic.
Even the New York Times got in on the act. One of the paper’s regular writers in the technology space tried to explain the UV technology and disinfection potential only to contradict himself within a matter of sentences and further confuse any careful reader. The article suggested that UV-C-band energy is safer than UV-A and UV-B because the former doesn’t cause sunburn. But sentences later, he wrote that UV-C irritates the skin and eyes. And he heralded a system that emits UV-C above the heads of people in a room, presumably rendering it safe. It seems to me that reflections are still an issue in the UV bands, not to mention the natural beam spread of a UV source.
Photobiological safety must remain a top priority for the LED and solid-state light (SSL) sectors. And such safety goes far beyond UV. We ran a foundational series of articles on photobiological safety starting back in 2011. And those articles continue to draw good traffic today.
Ironically, the author of those articles, Leslie Lyons, posited in a recent column that the SSL industry maybe should move to the use of UV emitters and phosphor/package designs that could block the UV energy because of continued concern over blue energy in the typical white-LED spectral power distribution (SPD). UV LEDs may yet impact SSL from many angles. And I hope the technology can be safely deployed to fight coronavirus.
The casinos in southern California that operate on Native American lands are preparing to reopen in the face of the pandemic. One of the casinos in San Diego County announced an all-new concept for a casino. It will close for a few late-night hours each evening for disinfection with what was called a medical-grade UV-C system. I’m trying to learn more.
Meanwhile, we have a couple of news stories for you. Osram Opto Semiconductors launched a new low- and mid-power LED portfolio with both white and color LEDs. The target is tunable color luminaires for everything from auto cabins to outdoor architectural lighting.
Signify, meanwhile, has taken steps to ensure that its Interact Internet of Things (IoT) platform is not subject to security vulnerabilities. The company had the network implementation tested by DEKRA to IEC specifications.
Also, I had a reader call me on a technicality in an article I wrote last week about turtle-friendly lighting — the second such article we published recently. The story focused on the fact that hatchling sea turtles instinctively head to the ocean by following the reflections of moonlight from the water’s surface. So turtle-friendly lighting radiates only at wavelengths of 560 nm and above — wavelengths that turtles ignore. Alas, I wrote about projects on the Gulf of Mexico yet referred to the body of water as an ocean. My bad!
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]