Subject: Guidelines for installing Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) cables in close proximity

to Fluorescent lighting

From: Dr. T. C. Tan, CommScope

B.Sc (Eng), DIC, PhD, CEng, FIET

Date: 25th May 2018

1.0 Introduction

In some indoor cabling installations such as in data centers, indoor premises cables are routed in close
proximity to general purpose lighting. Although installation guidelines are available for routing these
cables in such environments, most of these guidelines are related to protection against electromagnetic
interference or mitigation against thermal exposure from the lighting fixtures.

However, most lighting fixtures do emit some ultraviolet (UV) radiation, including light-emitting diode
(LED) lighting. However, the amount of UV emitted by standard LED lighting is much less than that
emitted by fluorescent lighting (due to the phosphors within an LED light that convert the UV radiation
to white light).
.
UV radiation is the same type of radiation as light and differs only in being of shorter wavelengths. The
UV section of the spectrum conventionally starts below 400 nm and it is divided into three subsections:
• UVA = 400 – 315 nm
• UVB = 315 – 280 nm
• UVC = 280 – 100 nm

General purpose lighting fixtures do emit some UVA radiation and a very small amount of UVB.
Radiation below 280 nm (UVC) is not emitted. In typical practical conditions, the lighting level under
fluorescent lighting is 500 lux and 10000 lux outdoors in natural daylight. Typical UV levels are listed
in Table 11.

The purpose of this document is to provide recommendations for installing indoor premises cables,
especially those of LSZH construction in proximity to fluorescent lighting fixtures. Non-adherence to
these guidelines will render the CommScope 25-year Extended Product Warranty and Application
Assurance null and void.

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UK Lighting Industry Association, Technical statement LIA TS03, Issue 1, Oct 2012

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 Irradiation (watts per m2)
Light Source
Visible UVA UVB
Natural Daylight*
48.5 5.4 0.08
(10,000 lux)
Fluorescent Lamp
1.5 0.05 0.004
(500 lux)
GLA (Halogen) Lamp
2.5 0.03 0.001
(500 lux)

* Refers to total skylight averaged through a year. UV level under clear sunlight is much higher.

Table 1: Ultraviolet levels from general purpose lighting fixtures and natural daylight

2.0 Exposure of Indoor Premises Cables to UV Radiation

Currently, the answer to UV exposure is to put a carbon black sheath on a cable as carbon black absorbs
UV well and provides some protection from damage. This is normally done for all outdoor and indoor-
outdoor cables. However, this is not the case for most indoor premises cables. The indoor cable jackets
typically do not have any special UV additive, so any protection is just from the color additives and/or
the filler contents.

Hence, when indoor cables are exposed to UV radiation, photo-oxidation occurs and the following
phenomena can occur:
• Color from PVC cable jacket can bleach out (i.e. loses color).
• Depending on their fundamental compositions, optical fiber coatings can yellow/brown out,
• LSZH cable jacket can become prematurely brittle, suffered cracks and in some cases, fallen
away exposing the insulated conductors or shield beneath (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Resulting exposure of LSZH cables to UV radiation from fluorescent lighting fixtures

Since the UV level increases as the distance from the UV source decreases, the closer the cables are
installed to the lighting fixtures, the more serious is the problem. In addition, the increase in thermal
exposure is likely to accelerate the degradation process. PVC cable jackets, however, have higher
tolerance to UV exposure than LSZH cable jackets.

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3.0 UV Testing in Cable Standards

Cable standards such as UL 444, IEC 60794-1-22, IEC 61156-1 and EN 50289-4-17 do call for UV
testing for cables.

According to Q-Lab Corporation2, the UV exposure application determines which type of UV lamps
should be used in the test. All are electrically equivalent to an ordinary 40 watt fluorescent light.
However, each lamp type differs in the total amount of UV energy emitted and in its wavelength
spectrum. Fluorescent UV lamps are usually categorized as UVA or UVB lamps, depending on the
region into which most of their output falls. UVA lamps are especially useful for comparing different
types of polymers and provide better correlation with actual outdoor weathering. The UVA-340 lamp
provides the best possible simulation of sunlight in the critical short wavelength region from 365 nm
down to the solar cutoff of 295 nm. Its peak emission is at 340 nm. See Figure 2. UVA-340 lamps are
especially useful for comparison tests of different formulations. UVA-351 lamps simulate the UV
portion of sunlight filtered through window glass and hence are useful for interior applications for
testing of polymer damage that can occur in an environment near a window. All UVB lamps emit
unnatural, short-wavelengths of UV that are below the solar cutoff of 295 nm and hence anomalous
results can occur. Two types of UVB lamps are available: the UVB-313EL and the QFS-40 (also known
as UVB FS-40 lamp). Compared to the QFS-40, the UVB-313EL lamp produces substantially higher
UV output. The QFS-40 is the original UV tester lamp, has been used for many years, and are still
specified in many automotive test methods, particularly for automotive exterior coatings.

Figure2: Comparing UVA-340 lamp with sunlight

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Q-Lab Corporation Technical Bulletin LU-8160

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The effect of UVA and UVB radiation on the physical properties of a LSZH compound with and
without UV stabilizer is provided by a LSZH cable jacket material supplier and this is shown in Table 2.

UVA-340 Lamp @ 60°C

A LSZH compound A LSZH compound
containing UV stabilizer containing no UV stabilizer
Exposure time
Retention of Retention of Retention of Retention of
(hours)
tensile strength elongation @ tensile strength elongation @
(%) break (%) (%) break (%)
0 100 100 100 100
24 101 99 103 83
48 105 94 104 66
96 104 91 92 39
168 98 69 83 23
336 103 68 76 15
672 106 44 Sample disintegrated
1008 94 35 Sample disintegrated

UVB-QFS40 Lamp
@ 8 hr/60°C + 4 hr/40°C wet cycle
A LSZH compound A LSZH compound
containing UV stabilizer containing no UV stabilizer
Exposure time
Retention of Retention of Retention of Retention of
(hours)
tensile strength elongation @ tensile strength elongation @
(%) break (%) (%) break (%)
0 100 100 100 100
24 100 88 100 99
48 97 77 96 74
96 102 78 85 57
168 103 73 83 47
336 103 65 75 35
672 99 54 67 22
1008 95 52 55 12

Table 2: Effect of UVA and UVB radiation on physical properties of a LSZH compound with and
without UV stabilizer

The main disadvantage with using UV stabilizer is that the stabilization effect decreases with time as the
stabilizers are continuously consumed with time.

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5.0 CommScope Recommendations

In order to minimize the premature damage to indoor premises cable jackets especially those of LSZH
construction, the following installation guidelines are recommended:
1) All fluorescent lighting fixtures within 300 cm (10 ft) of installed cables must be fitted with UV-
protective covers/diffusers. These covers/diffusers must fit the whole light fixtures.
2) If condition (1) above cannot be achieved, all the cables must be installed in enclosed trunking or
conduit.

Non-adherence to these recommended guidelines will render the CommScope 25-year Extended Product
Warranty and Application Assurance null and void.