So… a bunch of NFT grifters threw a party in Hong Kong this weekend and reportedly a bunch of attendees are now at risk of permanent eyesight damage because the promoters used unsafe lighting, and people are going to the ER…
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Found a picture of the stage setup with the UV lights
The contractor who set up the lights used bulbs that emit uv-c light, which is mostly used for sterilization
I did a quick search for the bulbs and almost every result mentions sterilization or germicide, I have to assume it’s impossible to purchase these, (in bulk! enough to light a stage!) without knowing that they’re for killing living organisms.
Yeah I don’t think this is something anyone reasonably deserves. I mean, we can roll our eyes at people dumb enough to pour all their money into the Stupidest Scam Ever, but I think ‘the lights at this concert meet basic safety standards’ is a reasonable assumption for anyone to make. I don’t interrogate the people at my local cinema about what kind of UV lights they have, I just assume they’re using normal ones that won’t send me blind. That guy up there is being weirdly forgiving of these penny-pinching arseholes (“you’re good guys” THEY BLINDED YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS WITH THE STUPIDEST SAFETY VIOLATION POSSIBLE) but this one’s entirely on the organisers.
Of course, the really stupid thing would be if they’re too addicted to the taste of boot leather to organise a class action lawsuit. They better sue. The organisers should be paying every cent of lost work, general suffering and medical care costs.
They used a different kind of UV light, one for sterilising things. It emits a kind of UV that kills living tissue.
I don’t know the details of the situation but I’ve heard people speculate that production of these sterilising lights was ramped up due to an expected surge in sales (due to Covid) that never materialised, so these guys probably went “oh sweet, incredibly cheap surplus UV lights someone’s offloading” and did no further research on the matter. I have no idea how true that is, though.
Quick bit of info UV ranges from 100-400nm in wavelength, the shorter the wave the more energy the longer the less energy, and the closer to visible light, like so:
‘Normal’ UV lights (aka black lights) are UVA, and usually towards the longer end. If you spent enough time under a black light it would cause tissue damage!
In fact that’s how tanning beds work, by using UV light to damage your skin until it produces melanin giving you a ‘tan’(oversimplification). In the long term that cumulative damage leads to skin cancer.
UVB is the next step up in energy, starting here you can damage your DNA directly. Most sunburns are actually caused by this wavelength.
Now we hit UVC. UVC has the highest energy wave! BUT it’s usually filtered out by our atmosphere. We are exposed to comparatively little UVC, which is good because UVC is very damaging to your DNA.
The specifics of why are very interesting but I won’t get into it. The general of it is that it causes your DNA to make mistakes, and those mistakes cause cancer. To the extent that labs can, and do, use UVC lamps to study cancer.
The reason UVC sterilized against viruses and bacteria is that it bombards and mutates their DNA until they loose their microscopic minds (DNA integrity).
This is why ALL UVC sterilization lights come with the warning “don’t use on eyes or skin!” because if not they could be suuuuuuuued BIG SUED. like Sue the T-Rex size sue, if you did and got cancer.
So I’m conclusion these guys should not just sue for time lost now, and pain and suffering now, but also for future likelihood of cancer.
While a couple hours exposure doesn’t seem like a long time, the fact that they show such strong symptoms of tissue damage…. It would not be surprising if a number of these people developed skin or eye cancer later on.
Hmm this did not end up being a quick bit of info at all
These people better file a lawsuit. They’d be the most pathetic people on earth if they didn’t. No cryptoscammer boot leather tastes as delicious as not being burdened with medical bills due to someone else’s absurd level of negligence.