alt Hacker News(author)
This absolutely depends on the frequency of UVC and the intensity of the lamp. The lamps this post links such as https://aerolamp.net are putting out 222-nm, which is much safer than longer UVC wavelengths and the intensity is well under TLV when placed 8.5ft up (or higher).
See https://www.faruvc.org for more on eye safety.
Replies
the8472 • yesterday at 8:26 PM
Ah nice, their data sheet has a spectrum. Kind of odd that they don't market the "we filter out the harmful parts" feature more prominently.
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They can leak into higher wavelengths. You are really putting a whole lot of trust in manufacturers if you are sitting underneath one of these for decades with unprotected eyes. Not a risk I would take personally (I have glaucoma already, so I'm a bit more sensitive than the average person about eye health)