Skin Cancer

Stupid Boy · Jun 13, 2004

I've been wondering this for a while, and my science homework that I'm doing right now that's due tomorrow reminded me of it.

"ultra-violet radiation...has been linked to skin cancer and eye damage" --My class notes

1. Can the UV lights that people put in computer cases cause skin cancer and eye damage?
2. Have UV lights in computer cases been linked to skin cancer and/or eye damage?
3. Have UV lights been in computer case long enough to be linked to skin cancer and/or eye damage?

Thanks

Aphex_Tom_9 · Jun 13, 2004

simple answer- no.
there are variations of UV light, UV-a, b and c. i dont remember which is harmful, i think it's c, but in any case, uv cold cathodes put out uv-a rays (i think, or whichever one is not harmful), so they're harmless.

orionnt · Jun 13, 2004

1) Possibly, if you started at it 24/7 for a few years.
2) Doubtful
3) Doubtful

The UV rays that come from things like the sun, im pretty sure are a different type of UV rays that actually cause radiation. And even if they are the same. think about it, the amount of UV rays produced by the sun are like 100000x that of those produced by that wimpy 12" light.

Nightingale · Jun 13, 2004

Its not intense enough to cause cancer. You need a true UV light such as those used to kill bacteria or those used in tanning beds to get a UV overdose other then the sun.

Stupid Boy · Jun 13, 2004

Thanks for your replies. Now, I'm curious about another thing: What makes the different types different? (I want a scientific answer.)

Yuriman · Jun 13, 2004

Im pretty sure the more damaging types are just farther down the spectrum.

Aphex_Tom_9 · Jun 13, 2004

Stupid Boy said:
Thanks for your replies. Now, I'm curious about another thing: What makes the different types different? (I want a scientific answer.)

wavelength

k3nshin · Jun 14, 2004

what doesn't cause cancer? lol

tbones1337 · Jun 14, 2004

k3nshin said:
what doesn't cause cancer? lol

living in a vaccum..

UV light is spread across the spectrum of light.... cold cathode uvs are fine.... the sun, isnt use sunscreen..

still worried, take the window of the panel and then find some clear drying suncscreen.. and apply...

lol

orion456 · Jun 14, 2004

Stupid Boy said:
"ultra-violet radiation...has been linked to skin cancer and eye damage" --My class notes
Thanks

First off, UV light doesn't cause cancer, otherwise everyone who went for a walk in the sun would have cancer......and obviously they don't. What UV light does do is make SOME people slightly more likely to get SOME forms of skin cancer.

On the other hand it is interesting to note:

1. Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer most often appears on skin that has NOT been exposed to the Sun....so much for UV light causing all skin cancers. Nobody knows why this happens and for years they have been trying to link melanoma with UV rays......but to no avail.

2. The most common type of skin cancer which has been linked to Sun expose and is found in sun exposed skin areas; also has a cure rate of 95%. Which is pretty darn good for cancer.

3. Increased expose to the Sun (as in the southern USA) makes you LESS likely to get other more serious forms of cancer like prostate, breast, bladder and colon. How much less likely.....well the rates of these cancers are doubled in the North Eastern USA compared to southern states. This effect has been seen all over the world across several cultures and is probably linked to vitamin D.....but no one is sure why.

So you see, it's not so clear that the sun (and UV light) is a bad guy after all.

There are several reputable medical journal articles about this stuff......if you are interested I'll dig them up.

tom10167 · Jun 14, 2004

Let's say your notes were accurate, realistically, in our situation.

Now let's dissect the words very carefully.

ultra-violet radiation...Ok that's the light.
has been linked - Has NOT officially been proven
skin cancer - I'm assuming the light has to reach your skin
eye damage - Stare at it for 25 hours a day for 367 days a year and you might need new glasses every 10 months instead of every year.

You see how that works?

ares350 · Jun 14, 2004

wavelength is the issue at hand, lower wavelengths are what is harmful. higher wavelengths approach visible spectrum, thus why our cathodes appear purplish, their barely UV at all.

real UV from the sun is much lower, and is hazardous to your skin and your eyes specially. if you take a college level chem/genetics class you might get into some UV reactive gels; for that stuff you have to wear eyeprotection, though your skin can handle it; it can seriously damage your eyes if looked at straight on. though thats the least of your worries, cause the gel itself is an EXTREMELY potent carginogenic. sacrifices for science eh?

stare at the UV light all day long, you'll be fine.

sonicdrive · Jun 15, 2004

orion456 said:
First off, UV light doesn't cause cancer, otherwise everyone who went for a walk in the sun would have cancer......and obviously they don't. What UV light does do is make SOME people slightly more likely to get SOME forms of skin cancer.

On the other hand it is interesting to note:

1. Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer most often appears on skin that has NOT been exposed to the Sun....so much for UV light causing all skin cancers. Nobody knows why this happens and for years they have been trying to link melanoma with UV rays......but to no avail.

2. The most common type of skin cancer which has been linked to Sun expose and is found in sun exposed skin areas; also has a cure rate of 95%. Which is pretty darn good for cancer.

3. Increased expose to the Sun (as in the southern USA) makes you LESS likely to get other more serious forms of cancer like prostate, breast, bladder and colon. How much less likely.....well the rates of these cancers are doubled in the North Eastern USA compared to southern states. This effect has been seen all over the world across several cultures and is probably linked to vitamin D.....but no one is sure why.

So you see, it's not so clear that the sun (and UV light) is a bad guy after all.

There are several reputable medical journal articles about this stuff......if you are interested I'll dig them up.

Were not worthy... Were not worthy..... were not worthy

penquissciguy · Jun 15, 2004

orion456 said:
First off, UV light doesn't cause cancer, otherwise everyone who went for a walk in the sun would have cancer......and obviously they don't. What UV light does do is make SOME people slightly more likely to get SOME forms of skin cancer.

On the other hand it is interesting to note:

1. Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer most often appears on skin that has NOT been exposed to the Sun....so much for UV light causing all skin cancers. Nobody knows why this happens and for years they have been trying to link melanoma with UV rays......but to no avail.

2. The most common type of skin cancer which has been linked to Sun expose and is found in sun exposed skin areas; also has a cure rate of 95%. Which is pretty darn good for cancer.

3. Increased expose to the Sun (as in the southern USA) makes you LESS likely to get other more serious forms of cancer like prostate, breast, bladder and colon. How much less likely.....well the rates of these cancers are doubled in the North Eastern USA compared to southern states. This effect has been seen all over the world across several cultures and is probably linked to vitamin D.....but no one is sure why.

So you see, it's not so clear that the sun (and UV light) is a bad guy after all.

There are several reputable medical journal articles about this stuff......if you are interested I'll dig them up.

I'd like to see these scientific journal articles. This goes against what every warning I've seen concerning sun exposure has ever said, as well as my understanding of cellular damage by radiation. In Australia, for example, they have a government program that basically requires you to wear sunsreen during peak exposure hours to avoid skin damage.

Ken

syberspy9 · Jun 15, 2004

the lights in ur pc arnt like a tanning bed
i mean if u have a window in ur case and uv lites and ur window faces ur leg wear shorts and after a year u will see its not a tanning bed

its not the same but its true vey thing kills u these days
but here in canada thats why we pay so many taxes so that we can get hospital stuff for free (if liberals arnt in powwer

orion456 · Jun 16, 2004

penquissciguy said:
I'd like to see these scientific journal articles. This goes against what every warning I've seen concerning sun exposure has ever said, as well as my understanding of cellular damage by radiation.
Ken

Don't you hate that when everything you know is just turned upside down?

The good effects of solar radiation has been know for some time now. However we are all so fixated on the "sun is bad" thing that the media chooses to ignore the facts. Here is the most important recent article, I'll post more in a bit. You can also do the search yourself using PubMed.

Cancer. 2002 Mar 15;94(6):1867-75. "An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to INADEQUATE doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation." Can you even believe that title??

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11920550

Note that this article is copyright by the American Cancer Society and appears in their most prestigious journal "Cancer".

Here is another one:

Occup Environ Med. 2002 Apr;59(4):257-62. Sunlight and mortality from breast, ovarian, colon, prostate, and non-melanoma skin cancer: a composite death certificate based case-control study.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11934953

Note that melanoma the most deadly of skin cancer ISN"T related to sunlight exposure......weird huh?

Stupid Boy · Jun 16, 2004

Thanks for explaining that, just one little thing:

ares350 said:
wavelength is the issue at hand, lower wavelengths are what is harmful. higher wavelengths approach visible spectrum, thus why our cathodes appear purplish, their barely UV at all.

real UV from the sun is much lower, and is hazardous to your skin and your eyes specially. if you take a college level chem/genetics class you might get into some UV reactive gels; for that stuff you have to wear eyeprotection, though your skin can handle it; it can seriously damage your eyes if looked at straight on. though thats the least of your worries, cause the gel itself is an EXTREMELY potent carginogenic. sacrifices for science eh?

stare at the UV light all day long, you'll be fine.

I assume you meant the lower wavelengths are safer and the visible spectrum is at a lower wavelength than ultraviolet. Is my assumtion correct, or am I just making an *** out of u and me?

MRD · Jun 16, 2004

All UV light is dangerous to varying degrees. The different types of UV light are different wavelengths and frequencies. The energy of a photon is determined by the formula e=hv where h=boltzmann's constant and v=the frequency of the light (greek letter nu). Either the frequency or wavelength uniquely determines the energy of a photon, as c=vl (well, l is usually lambda, but I can't type that). Thus, you prefer to be exposed to lower frequency or higher wavelength light (i.e. lower energy).

My guess is that those thingies that you put in the computer do not emit sufficiently intense UV light for it to be dangerous. Intensity is the number of photons and is completely separate from the energy of the photons. With visible light, for example, frequency/wavelength determine color while intensity determines brightness.

Even visible light can be dangerous, but of course, we are surrounded by it all the time. It's a question of how much exposure we have to it.

Skin Cancer

Stupid Boy

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orionnt

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Yuriman

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