Having previously documented experimentally the need for ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation (290-315 nm) in the light environment of captive female panther chameleons (Furcifer pardalis) to ensure hatching success of their eggs, we investigated optimal UVB irradiation levels. From 1996-1998 28 hatchling female panther chameleons were raised to maturity and bred (using vitamin and mineralfortified insect diets low in vitamin D) in nine different artificial UVB light environments. Seven of the environments included long (12 hr/day) low irradiation exposures ranging from 1.7 to 22 mW/cm 2 UVB, with a corresponding conversion of provitamin D 3 to photoproducts in in vitro models of 0.18 to 1.52% in 2 hr. Two environments included short (0.5 and 1.0 hr/day), high irradiation exposures of 55 and 49 mW/cm 2 UVB, respectively, with a corresponding conversion of provitamin D 3 to photoproducts in in vitro models of 8.3% to 14.6% in the respective 0.5-and 1.0-hr time periods. Females raised with the mid-level long/low exposures (5-15 mW/cm 2 UVB; 0.52-1.32% conversion to photoproducts in in vitro models) produced viable eggs with a significantly higher percentage of hatching compared to those with the extreme (highest or lowest) long/low exposures. Those raised with the short-/high-exposure environments produced viable eggs with a generally high percentage of hatching, but success was variable. The results and techniques for light quality assessment are interpreted, with recommendations for practical application by the *Correspondence to:

Children suffering severe burns develop progressive vitamin D deficiency because of inability of burned skin to produce normal quantities of vitamin D 3 and lack of vitamin D supplementation on discharge. Our study was designed to determine whether a daily supplement of a standard multivitamin tablet containing vitamin D 2 400 IU (10 μg) for 6 months would raise serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] to normal. We recruited eight burned children, ages 5-18, whose families were deemed reliable by the research staff. These children were given a daily multivitamin tablet in the hospital for 3 months in the presence of a member of the research staff and then given the remainder at home. At 6 months, the subjects returned for measurements of serum levels of 25(OH)D,1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH) 2 D], intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), Ca, P, albumin, and total protein as well as bone mass by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Serum 25(OH)D levels were compared to a group of seven age-matched burned children studied at an earlier date without the vitamin supplement but with the same method of determination of 25(OH)D at 6 months post-burn. In addition, the chewable vitamins were analyzed for vitamin D 2 content by high performance liquid chromatography. Serum concentration of 25(OH)D was 21 ± 11(SD) ng/ml (sufficient range 30-100) with only one of the eight children having a value in the sufficient range. In comparison, the unsupplemented burn patients had mean serum 25(OH)D level of 16 ± 7, P = 0.33 versus supplemented. Serum levels of 1,25(OH) 2 D, iPTH, Ca, P, albumin, and total protein were all normal in the supplemented group. Vitamin D 2 content of the chewable tablets after being saponified and extracted was 460 ± 20 IU.Bone mineral content of the total body and lumbar spine, as well as lumbar spine bone density, failed to increase as expected in the supplemented group. No correlations were found between serum 25(OH)D levels and age, length of stay, percent body surface area burn or third-degree burn. Supplementation of burned children with a standard multivitamin tablet stated to contain 400 IU of vitamin D 2 failed to correct the vitamin D insufficiency.

Three types of broadband ultraviolet‐B (UVB) radiometers were shown to display different irradiances from the same light source. Also, natural light and different lamp types were shown to have different vitamin D–synthesizing potential. Equations relating the irradiance readings from UVB radiometers from Gigahertz‐Optik Inc., UVP Inc., and Spectronics Corp. to in vitro vitamin D–synthesizing potential are reported for four UVB sources. Zoo Biol 23:355–363, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.