Can anyone tell me about light-resistant materials?

[AmethystFloris]

I really hope this is the right place for this, and I'm very sorry if it isn't. The study of light has always come under the heading of "physics" when it's been taught to me, but I'm afraid science is my weakest area!

I'm told aluminum foil is extremely light-resistant. Can anyone tell me what other materials/substances have light-resistant properties equal to or greater than aluminum foil?

I'd be tremendously grateful for any help. Thank you very much for your time.

 

The thing is, I have B12 injections, and the glass vials of B12 I use are extremely vulnerable to light, so the supplier suggests aluminum foil be used to wrap around the vials at all times (except when they're actually being used to draw B12 into the syringe). According to the supplier, aluminum foil is extremely light-resistant.

I was just wondering if anyone with a solid science background in the study of light could tell me if there were any other materials that were as light-resistant as aluminum foil? The problem is, the aluminum foil gets cracks in it from being unwrapped and re-wrapped every day, and constantly needs replacing. Can anyone recommend anything more permanent that I could use, like some sort of "light-proof box" (I'm sure that's the technical term for such a box ;D).

Edited June 15, 2020 by Strange
Restore context

[ahmet]

14 minutes ago, AmethystFloris said:

I really hope this is the right place for this, and I'm very sorry if it isn't. The study of light has always come under the heading of "physics" when it's been taught to me, but I'm afraid science is my weakest area!

The thing is, I have B12 injections, and the glass vials of B12 I use are extremely vulnerable to light, so the supplier suggests aluminum foil be used to wrap around the vials at all times (except when they're actually being used to draw B12 into the syringe). According to the supplier, aluminum foil is extremely light-resistant.

I was just wondering if anyone with a solid science background in the study of light could tell me if there were any other materials that were as light-resistant as aluminum foil? The problem is, the aluminum foil gets cracks in it from being unwrapped and re-wrapped every day, and constantly needs replacing. Can anyone recommend anything more permanent that I could use, like some sort of "light-proof box" (I'm sure that's the technical term for such a box ;D).

I'd be tremendously grateful for any help. Thank you very much for your time.

if you are trying to discuss scientific contexts,then WELCOME..

if you are trying to take some medical advice and/or medical helps from us as "us" means here we may include medical scientists ,too; then sorry we cannot help about it.

in such cases I recommend you to see your doctor.

regards

 

 

[AmethystFloris]

27 minutes ago, ahmet said:

if you are trying to discuss scientific contexts,then WELCOME..

if you are trying to take some medical advice and/or medical helps from us as "us" means here we may include medical scientists ,too; then sorry we cannot help about it.

in such cases I recommend you to see your doctor.

regards

 

 

Well, the reasons why I want to know don't really matter; I've edited my original post, to reflect the fact that the motivation for my question has no bearing on the answer. Essentially, "what is as or more light-resistant than aluminium foil" isn't actually a medical question, and I'm not looking for a medical answer; rather, the question requires the knowledge of someone familiar with the study of light, which I was hoping to find here. Thank you.

Edited June 15, 2020 by AmethystFloris

[ahmet]

1 hour ago, AmethystFloris said:

Well, the reasons why I want to know don't really matter; I've edited my original post, to reflect the fact that the motivation for my question has no bearing on the answer. Essentially, "what is as or more light-resistant than aluminium foil" isn't actually a medical question, and I'm not looking for a medical answer; rather, the question requires the knowledge of someone familiar with the study of light, which I was hoping to find here. Thank you.

ok. I presume you might find something here about aluminum foil here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/materials-science/aluminum-foil

but only alimunium as far as I know , it is one of (presumably the english equivalent terminology for it is: ) "prime metal" 

what does it mean? : this is a class as I know in periodic table.

others are "Zn,Pb,Cr" all these are also prime metals (maybe I confuse this with half metalic metals,not sure).

their properties have both metalic and ametalic.

a notation: my physical/chemistry knowledge might be insufficient,therefore please consult scientific context more than my comment under this thread.

general information

in fact,all elements each has its unique atomic number and this determines its place on periodic table. 

personal opinion

I think,you can find some stronger metals than aluminum

Edited June 15, 2020 by ahmet

[joigus]

4 hours ago, AmethystFloris said:

I really hope this is the right place for this, and I'm very sorry if it isn't. The study of light has always come under the heading of "physics" when it's been taught to me, but I'm afraid science is my weakest area!

I'm told aluminum foil is extremely light-resistant. Can anyone tell me what other materials/substances have light-resistant properties equal to or greater than aluminum foil?

I'd be tremendously grateful for any help. Thank you very much for your time.

I don't know what light-resistant means. Do you mean a perfect absorber, like all metals are? Aluminum foil is a very good absorber of light. Cover your mobile phone with it and have someone try to call you. You'll see what I mean.

[Strange]

4 hours ago, AmethystFloris said:

I really hope this is the right place for this, and I'm very sorry if it isn't. The study of light has always come under the heading of "physics" when it's been taught to me, but I'm afraid science is my weakest area!

I'm told aluminum foil is extremely light-resistant. Can anyone tell me what other materials/substances have light-resistant properties equal to or greater than aluminum foil?

I'd be tremendously grateful for any help. Thank you very much for your time.

Any material that you can't see through is going to be light-resistant, in the sense you mean. The one exception might be plastic because that is often made so it blocks visible light but might allow ultra-violet light through, which is likely to be a problem in this application. All metals are opaque(*), so aluminium isn't special in that way. It is special in that it is easily available in thing sheets.

Finding something flexible enough not to break like the aluminium foil does, but that also stays wrapped around the vials, may be a bit of a problem. 

How many times does each vial get wrapped and unwrapped?

An alternative might be too keep them in a box made of wood or metal. 

(*) Because of the nature of this site, someone is going to point out that you can see through very thin sheets, such as gold leaf. But that is not relevant to this situation. 

!

Moderator Note

I think that your description of the reason you need this is very relevant to people suggesting a possible solution. You are not asking for medical advice (which we do have a rule against). So I am going to put it back in your post. (We already have enough unhelpful replies!)

 

[studiot]

4 hours ago, AmethystFloris said:

I really hope this is the right place for this, and I'm very sorry if it isn't. The study of light has always come under the heading of "physics" when it's been taught to me, but I'm afraid science is my weakest area!

I'm told aluminum foil is extremely light-resistant. Can anyone tell me what other materials/substances have light-resistant properties equal to or greater than aluminum foil?

I'd be tremendously grateful for any help. Thank you very much for your time.

Vitamin B12 injections sometimes come in dark brown ampoules in a box but the daily injection regime usually only lasts a week then tails of quickly to three monthly intervals.

So keep them in the box until you want to use them, remove only one at a time.

You could wrap the box in foil, rather than the ampoules if you really must but I rather doubt the manufacturer would offer something unsuitable.

Keep the box in a cool/cold dark place such as a refrigerator.
 

Storage

1. If you need to store Neo-B12® Injection, keep it in the original pack until it is time for it to be given. ...
2. Keep Neo-B12® Injection in a cool dry place, where the temperature stays below 25°C.
3. Do not store this medicine or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. ...
4. Keep it where children cannot reach it.

More items...

 

Neo-B12 Injection - NPS MedicineWise

[AmethystFloris]

48 minutes ago, Strange said:

Any material that you can't see through is going to be light-resistant, in the sense you mean. The one exception might be plastic because that is often made so it blocks visible light but might allow ultra-violet light through, which is likely to be a problem in this application. All metals are opaque(*), so aluminium isn't special in that way. It is special in that it is easily available in thing sheets.

Finding something flexible enough not to break like the aluminium foil does, but that also stays wrapped around the vials, may be a bit of a problem. 

How many times does each vial get wrapped and unwrapped?

An alternative might be too keep them in a box made of wood or metal. 

(*) Because of the nature of this site, someone is going to point out that you can see through very thin sheets, such as gold leaf. But that is not relevant to this situation. 

!

Moderator Note

I think that your description of the reason you need this is very relevant to people suggesting a possible solution. You are not asking for medical advice (which we do have a rule against). So I am going to put it back in your post. (We already have enough unhelpful replies!)

 

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed to know -- I wanted to make sure that aluminium foil didn't have any kind of special properties, and now that I know any metal box will do, a metal box is exactly what I'll get! Thank you!!

40 minutes ago, studiot said:

Vitamin B12 injections sometimes come in dark brown ampoules in a box but the daily injection regime usually only lasts a week then tails of quickly to three monthly intervals.

So keep them in the box until you want to use them, remove only one at a time.

You could wrap the box in foil, rather than the ampoules if you really must but I rather doubt the manufacturer would offer something unsuitable.

Keep the box in a cool/cold dark place such as a refrigerator.
 

Storage

1. If you need to store Neo-B12® Injection, keep it in the original pack until it is time for it to be given. ...
2. Keep Neo-B12® Injection in a cool dry place, where the temperature stays below 25°C.
3. Do not store this medicine or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. ...
4. Keep it where children cannot reach it.

More items...

 

Neo-B12 Injection - NPS MedicineWise

I have no intrinsic factor (pernicious anaemia), so in my case it's injections every single day for the foreseeable future; and the form I take, methylcobalamin, comes in just one large vial, which you unscrew and draw from what you need each time, so they're not in separate ampoules that stay in their box till I'm ready to use them -- it's essentially just one bottle that has no box, which is why it needs something to shield it from light.

 

Thank you all very much.

 

[John Cuthber]

Metals block light very effectively (unless they are extremely thin)

So, a small metal box  (with some padding) would do the job of keeping your B12  bottle in the dark.

The photography stores used to sell opaque bags of various sorts for handling and string photographic film, but in these days of digital imaging, I don't know if they are still on sale.


 

4 hours ago, ahmet said:

only alimunium as far as I know , it is one of (presumably the english equivalent terminology for it is: ) "prime metal" 

what does it mean? : this is a class as I know in periodic table.

others are "Zn,Pb,Cr" all these are also prime metals (maybe I confuse this with half metalic metals,not sure).

their properties have both metalic and ametalic.

I'm sorry, but none of that makes much sense.

 

 

[ahmet]

1 hour ago, John Cuthber said:

 

I'm sorry, but none of that makes much sense.

 

 

mmm,I deeply respect that.

because my chemistry knowledge is (I think) worse even than physics   

with my apologies,I could not answer the thread well.