Malfunctioning Light Bulb Irradiates School Gym

A malfunctioning light bulb in a school gym, at the Baker Elementary School in Columbia, exposed more than 100 people to short-wave radiation for an hour, sending 18 to the hospital with severe sunburns and swollen eyes. Dr Michael Richardson, an emergency room doctor from the Maury Regional Hospital, said the symptoms, similar to overexposure from a tanning bed, were produced by a radiation leak from a halide bulb. The bulbs, commonly used in gyms, are designed with a special membrane that blocks the UV rays, but occasionally the membranes break — via Warren Ellis