Urine contains minerals such as phosphorous that glow under ultraviolet light.

If UV lights were installed in public restrooms, patrons would know what was truely clean, and janitors would know what to clean.

You would run the risk, however, of the entire bathroom glowing and patrons leaving in disgust.
-- discontinuuity, Sep 27 2005

Seeing the dirt would certainly inspire people to avoid it, though I doubt it would encourage anyone to be clean. But wouldn't this create a false sense of cleanliness when the dirt/germs do not show up under UV?
-- DrCurry, Sep 27 2005


UV is bad for the eyeballs.
-- bristolz, Sep 27 2005


UV/blue light is used in restrooms... to stop people jacking up.
-- Jinbish, Sep 27 2005


I remeber seeing black-lights employed in some grimy bus-station toilets in Plymouth, Devon - I think the reason was to somehow deter drug use, though I'm not sure I understand how.
-- zen_tom, Sep 27 2005


yeah, cancer!
-- schmendrick, Sep 27 2005


Yep the blacklight makes it hard to locate veins. You could use a UV fluorescent marker to put an X before you went in...
-- Captain_Ignorant, Sep 27 2005


I think the entire NYC subway system would glow if black lights were installed.
-- MrDaliLlama, Sep 27 2005


I beleive there was a show on Discovery channel where doctors went around a fraturnity shining a UV light. The results weren't pretty.
-- discontinuuity, Sep 27 2005


Given that most people are already cautious about touching surfaces in restrooms, I'm thinking that this technology would be wasted there. Put it in the foodcourt (pointing away from the eyes, of course, per bris).
-- DrCurry, Sep 27 2005



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