On the mechanism of the effect of ultraviolet emission of the gas-discharge mercury lamp on the thickness of the water layer adjacent to human erythrocyte membrane

Abstract

The nuclear magnetic resonance technique (spin echo) has been applied to measure the time scale for water molecule transition through the membrane of human blood erythrocytes. The effective thickness of the layer of non-mixing water adjacent to the erythrocyte membrane was determined. The effective thickness of this layer was found to decrease by 25% after four-minute exposure to ultraviolet gas-discharge mercury lamp radiation. To specify the effect, the measurements were repeated in separate lines in the emission spectrum of mercury vapor. To select the lines, a combination of glass light filters whose refractive indices could be controlled was used. Emissions at the 312.6 nm, 365.0 nm, 404.7 nm, 435.8 nm, and 577.0 nm lines during four-minute intervals result in a 4 -18% reduction in the effective thickness of the water layer. The effect was explained by the transformation of the electromagnetic energy into acoustic energy occurring under the influence of radiation. This conclusion has been drawn from the correlation between the reduction in the effective thickness of the water layer adjacent to the erythrocyte membrane for each spectrum line and the energy transformation efficiency factor for the same spectrum line. Thus, the mechanism of the effect of ultraviolet emission of the gas-discharge mercury lamp on erythrocytes is comprised of the following sequence of events: (1) electromagnetic radiation enters the blood, (2) electromagnetic energy transforms into sound wave energy in the blood, (3) the oscillations stimulate an increase in air bubble size in the water layer adjacent to the erythrocyte membrane, (4) the air bubbles increase their speed both in the gravitational field (speed is proportional to the bubble radius squared) and in the temperature field (speed is proportional to the bubble radius), and (5) the increase in the bubble speed due to an increase in their size enhances mixing and decreasing the density of the water layer and thence the effective thickness of this layer.