Quartz lamps

Quartz lamps

— gas-discharge lamps of a special design — with a quartz glass bulb. The key difference between such glass and ordinary glass is that it practically freely transmits ultraviolet light. Thus, quartz lamps are sources of intense UV radiation, which has a powerful bactericidal effect.

Such radiation can be used both for general disinfection and for medical purposes. Nowadays, the first option is the most popular: most quartz lamps available for free sale are designed for "quartzing" - disinfection of rooms with UV radiation. This procedure is extremely effective and at the same time convenient: ultraviolet light kills more than 99% of pathogens both on irradiated surfaces and in the air, and the process takes only a few minutes and does not require unnecessary actions. In fact, it is enough only to turn on the lamp for the required time, and then - to air the room to remove ozone, which may occur during operation (however, nowadays there are many ozone-free lamps, after which airing is not necessary). It should be noted that the so-called germicidal lamps have a similar purpose, but they are different from quartz lamps; for more details see the relevant paragraph.

As for UV lamps for medical purposes, they are mainly used for various inflammatory diseases. One of the most famous procedures using such lamps is quartz tube treatment of the ear, throat or nose. However, it is not limited to this, quartz is used in surgery, dermatology, dentistry and other fields of medicine; lamps are also produced to compensate for a general lack of ultraviolet light (for example, when living in northern latitudes).

It is also worth emphasizing that when using quartz lamps, precautions must be carefully observed: UV radiation is potentially dangerous for humans (especially for the eyes). In particular, it is not allowed to look directly at such a lamp or use it as a tanning device.