Ever wonder what we mean when we talk about our UV-blocking acrylic? Or, did you know acrylic could be UV-filtering in the first place? 

We're fellow collectors and nerds here at Scobo™. We understand the importance of ensuring the materials we use are high quality and do what we say they do. We take the trust-but-verify approach to our material suppliers when we claim UV-filtering.

We coordinated testing with an independent laboratory, Covalent Metrology, to do a full spectrophotometer analysis of our acrylic material to fully understand the transmittance % in all wavelengths within the UV spectrum. We also sent them some competitor samples to test against ours! 

If you're interested in learning more about the measurement process, check it out on Covalent Metrology's site here. 

With that, let's get into it! 

First, let's understand UV Light.

There are 3 categories of UV: ​

• UVA, UVB, and UVC​

​The intensity of UV radiation is measured in the units of milliwatts per square centimeter (mW/cm2).
Here are the 3 categories by wavelength: 

UVC​	100-280nm wavelength​	Absorbed by Ozone​
UVB​	280-315nm wavelength​	Sensitivity of ABS polymers are typically between 300 – 390nm​
UVA​	315-400um wavelength​

​

Our In-House Testing Results

At first, we tried measuring our acrylic versus competitors at home. 

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Covalent Testing Results + Analysis

Then, we contacted Covalent Metrology to see what their lab could show us. 

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So, what the heck do these graphs mean? 

• Competitors 1 to 4 each had a lapse in UV filtering properties around 265nm to 285nm, making them only about 87% to 95% effective at blocking UV at those wavelengths. ​
• Competitors 1 to 4 also tended to stop short with their UV blocking around ~370nm wavelength, leaving you unprotected from UVA light from 370nm to 400nm wavelength.​
• The material Scobo™ uses ensures UV blocking for almost the entire UV spectrum (yay!)

Why is this important?

• Depending on what you collect, different materials can be sensitive to certain wavelengths.​
• UV rays can cause things like color fading or brittleness of materials because it breaks down chemical bonds that produce the color dye or polymer.​
  For example, if you are a collector of a certain ABS plastic based buildable brick toy, ABS can be sensitive to UV damage between 300nm to 390nm.

So when collectors and other hobbyists talk about the importance of protection from UV rays, that's where they're coming from. And why the team at Scobo™ uses the UV-filtering material that we do. 

If you're interested in the process and have any questions about our UV-filtering acrylic, contact us or visit Covalent Metrology for more info!