Light Mutation

[Terry K.]

Here is a question I have been pondering over for a while, and it might be easy (and I’m not thinking right), or it might take someone of advanced knowledge. Ok, can light in and of itself cause mutations to the body (similarly to that of harmful UV rays)? Now I’m not talking about any kind of radiation, I’m just talking about light that is naturally there all the time without any harmful radiation traveling with it. So, any thoughts, because my ponderings have led me to brick walls left and right, so maybe I’m just overanalyzing it? Not sure, any help welcome. 😀

[canalon]

Besides the UV light emitted by the sun, the visble light is not powerful enough to cause anything harmful.

[scottyiu]

But isn’t light still energy hitting your cells. OK, i know this sounds silly but if you get a strongest light you can find and sit there for like a year wouldn’t that still is bad (and might cause mutations)?

[Terry K.]

that’s the kind of stuff I’m looking for

[canalon]

Ok let’s put it like that: if you spend your life in the sunlight with UV shielding, I don’t think anything will ever happen to you. And even in the highly improbable case one of your skin cell would be mutated you have plenty of repair system to get rid of it. But Usually only UV photons have enough energy to cause mutations.

The biggest danger if you were sitting under the biggest lightbulb you can find is that it will emit enough Infrared to fry you 😉

[Terry K.]

lol, ok, that pretty much sums up everything I was pondering over. thank you very much all for your participation in my questioning, especially you Canalon, you have summed up many of my ponderings thus far and I hope you keep on participating because I believe you to be the most knowledgable person that has membership to this site thus far, you are the science guru in my opinion.

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