I've noticed that in some restrooms (McD and the local Safeway for example) there are only ultraviolet lights. Somebody told me once that it was to keep junkies from shooting drugs in there because they're not supposed to see their veins in that light...I think, however, that I can see my veins just fine...So does anybody know the reason why they use black light? Other than having it look strange? I'm sorry if this has been discussed before but I couldn't find anything on the boards or the main page.
Anathema
-------------------- Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods) Posts: 188 | From: Bangor Gwynedd | Registered: Mar 2003
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I don't know why they would use only black lights, but my guess is that it's supposed to kill germs.
Posts: 2352 | From: California | Registered: May 2001
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It's blue lights, not ultraviolet, that is meant to deter junkies. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ultraviolet alone wouldn't provide any illumination since it isn't in the visible spectrum.
Now, I've been in loos that have the blue lights only and it is very difficult to see your veins - well, my veins anyway. Possibly if you had large, raised veins they might be marginally easier to see.
Ultraviolet light is used for various kinds of sterilization (though I've never seen it in toilets here) but I'm hazarding a guess that it would be in some way different from your average nightclub blacklights. (I'm not having much luck finding precise data to back this up, though...any scientific types out there willing to help?)
Little "zap!" Galaxy
-------------------- I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains - that's why I live in Melbourne, where it always bloody rains. Posts: 632 | From: Melbourne, Australia | Registered: Nov 2003
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Harry 20
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posted
Yep it's to make it difficult to find a vein. I noticed this fairly recently in some pubs around Dublin and in the prison where I was visiting a friend. A lot of pubs/restaurants will keep the key to the toilets behind the bar and fit these lights to stop drug addicts hanging out and shooting up on their premises.
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A black light casts no visible light, although certain things do fluoresce in its presence. I've never seen one anywhere except a rave. Is this what you're talking about?
Posts: 1744 | From: Houston | Registered: Dec 2002
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DemonWolf
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
I think you mean florescent lights.
-------------------- Friends are like skittles: they come in many colors, and some are fruity!
quote:Originally posted by brick in your stocking: A black light casts no visible light, although certain things do fluoresce in its presence. I've never seen one anywhere except a rave. Is this what you're talking about?
Most "black light" tubes also emit light in the visible range -- a very deep purple.
Such tubes are (or used to be, back when I was a tad) popular in carnival fun rides, as they bring out the colors of the background in bright neon pop-art vibrancy. Like, psychedelic, man!
Disneyland used to use them, with special ink, to stamp people's hand at the park exit for re-admittance. I'm not sure what they use today...
Silas (we'll all glow together when we go) Sparkhammer
-------------------- When on music's mighty pinion, souls of men to heaven rise, Then both vanish earth's dominion, man is native to the skies. Posts: 16801 | From: San Diego, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Cato, the Singing-Ringing Flea[bag]
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
quote:Originally posted by DemonWolf, Santa's happy elf: I think you mean florescent lights.
Aren't florescent lights just the normal strip lights that you often see in public buildings and offices? That's what I've always called them anyway -- that or "strip lights"
Black light is something different -- see posts above for explanation.
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Could we be confusing the lights used for bug catchers? Most restaurants and food plants use some type of black/blue light to attract pests.
BB "love watching my bug zapper" &S
-------------------- "How dare your reality hinder my ability to believe what I want!" Joe Bentley Posts: 697 | From: Backwoods of Arkansas | Registered: Dec 2003
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DemonWolf
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
quote:Originally posted by Cato, the Singing-Ringing Flea[bag]:
quote:Originally posted by DemonWolf, Santa's happy elf: I think you mean florescent lights.
Aren't florescent lights just the normal strip lights that you often see in public buildings and offices? That's what I've always called them anyway -- that or "strip lights"
Black light is something different -- see posts above for explanation.
Yes, I thought that maybe the OP was confusing florescent lighting (aka- strip lighting) for black lights. I've seen only strip lights in McD's restrooms and thought that maybe he was confusing the term. Since my post, however, I've come to learn that apparently, in the UK, blue colored lighting is used to discourage IV drug users.
But I still have yet to see Black lighting in a restroom, and as Slainey pointed out, having one in there might be disturbing.
-------------------- Friends are like skittles: they come in many colors, and some are fruity!
posted
at my university in dublin, some of the bathrooms, those which were open to the public, had these blue/black/whatever lights. i know they were there to deter junkies, but what i heard was that when you shoot up, the heroin shows through your skin in the light, and so it'll be obvious what you were doing. but that only makes sense really if you aren't wearing long sleeves and have a bathroom attendant...the not seeing veins things sounds a lot more logical.
-------------------- "I am so smart, I am so smart, s-m-r-t...." Posts: 129 | From: New York City | Registered: Sep 2003
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For everybody that is having confusion between if the OP is refering to black light or UV or fluorescent, read this. the topic the OP is refering to is the increasing trend in EUROPEAN toilets to illuminate the toilets with BLUE Flourescent light. this is not something you will see in the USA. Blue light has nothing to do with black light or UV, it is a passive deterrent to IV drug use in EUROPE.
posted
I assumed that the OP referred to the fact that urine fluoresces in ultraviolet light ("blacklight"), making the bathrooms easier to clean after a busy night . At least, pet supply catalogs sell UV lights that you can use to find urine stains, if little Rex or Fluffy doesn't quite understand about going outside .
The blue lights explanation makes more sense.
The Cat In "use the litterbox, dammit!" The Hat
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. At least, pet supply catalogs sell UV lights that you can use to find urine stains, if little Rex or Fluffy doesn't quite understand about going outside 
