Does brighter LED stipes produce more UV than dimmer ones?

Chris Redfield · Jan 22, 2021

Hello everybody,

I just joined this forum to ask for your advice.
I have one very fragile object that I want to light up with some LED stripes.
However as you may know,LED lights produce very,very small amount of UV that is almost non existent,but it's still there.
Object I have is very prone to decay if it's exposed to any kind of UV.
I put it behind glass and I added some anti-UV film foil on glass itself for extra layer of protection.

I would like to put some LED stripes,but I'm not sure if I'll get more UV radiation if I use brighter model like 5050 instead of 2835?
One more time,I need model of LED stripes that produces as low UV as they can so keep that in mind.

Lucien Nunes · Jan 22, 2021

All other variables being equal, I would expect more UV emission from an LED source with higher visible light output. But the other variables may not be equal; different brands, types and colour-temperatures of LED might emit significantly different UV power and spectrum, that is not related to their visible light output.

Therefore I don't think it is safe to generalise; you should take a measurement of the UV from the exact type of LED chips you intend to use, or get that information from the manufacturer.

marconi · Jan 23, 2021

Do LED Lights Emit UV Radiation? | OEO LED Lighting - https://oeo.com/led-lights-emit-uv-radiation/#:~:text=For%20the%20majority%20of%20LED,light%20LEDs%2C%20this%20has%20changed.

Lucien Nunes · Jan 23, 2021

I think that article was from the point of view of safe exposure for humans. Specimens illuminated in cases, for which exposure may be cumulative over centuries, might require a lower limit. LED fixtures should easily be able to reach this limit, either inherently or with filtering, to the extent that museums specify LED for critical exhibits.

It is nonetheless true that the blue chips used in white LEDs emit measurable long-wavelength UV that might escape the phosphor depending on the quality of construction. I don't have any numbers to show the typical output below 400nm in a commercial product but I am sure they exist.