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The blacklight or UV-A is the longest and safest wavelength region of UV and also the lowest energy. It is very useful in today’s society. There is almost an unlimited number of commercial and personal home uses. Blacklights are used in hotels, motels, nursing homes, for law enforcement, day care centers, schools and universities, hospitals, rehab centers, medical offices, restaurants, food processing plants, pharmaceutical and electronics manufacturing, clean rooms operations. They are also used around the house for at home sanitation, sanitary inspection, bacterial detection, pet stains, and lice detection. Blacklight fluorescence is used today for many types of inspections. The light makes processes easier in jobs like forensics, antique and art inspection, quality control, and healthcare. Blacklights have the ability to illuminate chemicals or substances that would otherwise be invisible to the human eye. They have the ability to reveal otherwise invisible evidence at crime scenes and can help find the causes of some fires. Blacklights are very useful in art inspection. Different chemical properties become apparent under a blacklight. For instance modern paint will fluoresce or glow under a black light, older paints will not. This can be used to determine whether a painted object is an antique or a newer reproduction as well as to determine whether a piece has been "touched up" and if so, how extensive was the repair. The same technique can be used to detect repairs on antique porcelain as the old finish will not glow under a blacklight, and the newer material in the repair will. Synthetic fibers, such as rayon and polyester, made since WW2 all fluoresce. This allows detection of new military uniforms, new quilts, new doll clothes, etc. Even if old fabric is used to repair an old quilt, the new thread will fluoresce. A quilt from 1800 is less likely to fluoresce, while a quilt made in the last decade probably will. Mass produced laundry detergents from the current and past decades have contained additives that make laundry whiter and brighter. These additives can make textiles fluoresce under a black light, which would lead a person to believe an antique quilt/textile, washed in these detergents, was newly made. And while many newly made fabrics and threads do fluoresce, there are also fabrics and threads that do not fluoresce. Blacklights can be very important for collectors of antique arts. Stores can make good use of blacklights. Fakes and forgeries often look different under blacklight. Many business owners keep a blacklight behind the counter to check bills for the standard markings which are designed to glow under UV.Artworks that are touched up to look matched in color to the naked eye will often show stark differences in fluorescence due to changes in paint. UV can allow you to see many of these otherwise hidden details. They can also check identification cards using blacklights. Alterations and lack of intentional features, such as holograms, that were put in only the approved documents can show up well under UV lighting. Blacklights can be especially useful in the healthcare industry. Blacklights are used to help effects of Psoriasis, and UV light is used in many medical treatments. UV is at the upper end of full spectrum visible light which appears to help in treatment of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Vitamin D is produced when the skin is bathed in UV light, and exposure to UV helps the body absorb calcium. Recent medical developments include fluorescent dyes used in conjunction with blacklight to identify cancerous cells in the internal organs of patients Although often overlooked, a blacklight could be a very useful tool in this day and age. Blacklights and other UV lights have the ability to assist the human eye in detecting things that would otherwise be unknown. Everything from crime scenes, healthcare, to personal use can find benefits from blacklights. Society can also find more uses for blacklights in the future including revealing biological and chemical agents in the air. 
Introduction|Physics of Blacklights|Question 1|*Question 2*|Links|Conclusion|Works Cited|People
