"Lee" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> spaketh thusly:
>I've been advised that adding an ultraviolet light to a laminar flow
>table helps keep the station clean.
An UV light bulb does not help keep a HEPA workstation
"clean." If anything, it does nothing more than entertain the user
while causing damage from incidental exposure.
>If so, should it be be used before working with seed pods to clean the area?
"Capsules," please, not "pods." Fortunately for Joe, he's no
longer here anymore, or he'd throw a tie rod.
>Or should it be on while working with the seed or later during
>replating? Would an 18 watt bulb be effective or should it be 60 watt?
UV bulbs on HEPA workstations are like bicycles for fish. In
one lab in which I worked, we had 5 workstations; the only person who
used the UV bulb was from the lab across the hall. She would come in,
expose her samples (for some purpose unknown to me), and walk back to
her lab. She used no eye protection, and despite protests from the
rest of us, refused to take any precautions. She has an MD and worked
in research for about 14 years.
UV light denatures a specific part of DNA (thymine dimers),
which doesn't really kill the organism- it just prevents it from
being able to reproduce. This reaction is reversible upon exposure to
light. As a result, if you irradiate organisms, they may survive and
continue to grow in your flasks at some future point.
Cheers,
-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ
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