Low energy bulbs - health issues
Discussion
Daily Mail (old) link but it seems these things can give out harmful UV, giving a slight but significant increase in the risk of skin cancer and cataracts. Nice. It also mentions a link to migraines, something I haven't suffered with until a few years ago which coincides with when these things were coming out.
Here (if you can still see)
Think I'll be trying to source some filament bulbs..
Here (if you can still see)
Think I'll be trying to source some filament bulbs..
dont forget to check out these daily mail articles of things which cause cancer:
http://www.anorak.co.uk/288298/scare-stories/the-d...
http://www.anorak.co.uk/288298/scare-stories/the-d...
dfen5 said:
Daily Mail (old) link but it seems these things can give out harmful UV, giving a slight but significant increase in the risk of skin cancer and cataracts. Nice. It also mentions a link to migraines, something I haven't suffered with until a few years ago which coincides with when these things were coming out.
Here (if you can still see)
Think I'll be trying to source some filament bulbs..
Look for "heavy duty" or "Industrial use" bulbs, if you're really worried. I'm not.Here (if you can still see)
Think I'll be trying to source some filament bulbs..
dfen5 said:
It also mentions a link to migraines, something I haven't suffered with until a few years ago which coincides with when these things were coming out.
CFLs work the same as any other fluorescent lights, as found in many supermarkets, commercial environments, office spaces, schools and the odd garage or kitchen since about a million years ago.If you're really that bothered, the article blames the frequency, pick out lights with a lower frequency or "colour temperature".
They might have said "wavelength" instead of frequency, short wavelengths are the same as high frequencies.
In what way is colour temperature not frequency?
The colour of light depends on it's frequency, or at least it's dominant visible frequency, but I'd hazard a guess that anything giving of significant amounts of UV would have a blue/white hue rather than a warmer hue.
In what way is colour temperature not frequency?
The colour of light depends on it's frequency, or at least it's dominant visible frequency, but I'd hazard a guess that anything giving of significant amounts of UV would have a blue/white hue rather than a warmer hue.
Flibble said:
Or get LED bulbs.
Some say, LED life is hugely affected by high temperature and they "kill" a digital radio signal...is this true?I've bought some cheap Chinese LED's. Most were rubbish. But I did get two really good ones (a test order).
I immediately ordered more of the same. When they arrived, they were nothing like as good as the first two.
scarble said:
They might have said "wavelength" instead of frequency, short wavelengths are the same as high frequencies.
This is true as far as it goes, however...scarble said:
In what way is colour temperature not frequency?
In the way that colour temperature is a value the defines the apparent colour of the light, not its frequency. Specifically the colour temperature is the temperature of a perfect black body emitter that output light of a similar colour. Bulbs are not perfect black bodies, though incandescents are fairly close. However for CFL bulbs it merely describes the apparent colour of the light since they are nothing like a black body emitter.scarble said:
The colour of light depends on it's frequency, or at least it's dominant visible frequency, but I'd hazard a guess that anything giving of significant amounts of UV would have a blue/white hue rather than a warmer hue.
The colour of the light depends on its overall spectrum, especially when describing CFL lights and similar lights with discontinuous spectra. Also UV is not visible so it doesn't contribute to the colour of the light; it would be quite possible to have a light that looked red and yet emitted mainly in the UV region.CFLs are low pressure mercury vapour lights; the mercury vapour emits UV light which then hits phosphors on the inside of the lamp making them glow with visible light. The UV light emitted is a property of mercury and so is the same for all CFLs, the different colour temperatures are due to different phosphor coatings. As such all CFLs can potentially emit UV light, and the colour temperature doesn't affect it at all. The only thing that affects how much UV light is how well constructed the glass envelope is; in a well constructed bulb the glass will filter out almost all the UV light, poorer quality bulbs will leak more UV.
soad said:
Some say, LED life is hugely affected by high temperature and they "kill" a digital radio signal...is this true?
How high is the temperature in your house? Any half decent LED bulb will have a heatsink to reduce its operating temperature so unless you have a very hot house it wouldn't be much affected.soad said:
I've bought some cheap Chinese LED's. Most were rubbish. But I did get two really good ones (a test order).
I immediately ordered more of the same. When they arrived, they were nothing like as good as the first two.
I've tried a few different LED bulbs and there is a lot of difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones. You get what you pay for. Look for 2700K (very warm white) bulbs for a good approximation of incandescents.I immediately ordered more of the same. When they arrived, they were nothing like as good as the first two.
Interesting, it seems the glass is relied on as the filter, I had assumed the phosphor coating did that, though now that I think about it, mercury vapour lamps without phosphor. I didn't think they were all that strongly UV either, in fact being mostly in the high end of visible light but apparently I was wrong and they even emit enough UV to cause trouble with some plastics, though there are also strong peaks at much lower frequencies.
I should imagine the risk to health is about equivalent to going out doors once in a while, perhaps it's even beneficial for vitamin D
The flickering on the other hand, as you read this you're staring at something flickering at 60Hz. No idea what frequency lights flicker at.
I should imagine the risk to health is about equivalent to going out doors once in a while, perhaps it's even beneficial for vitamin D
The flickering on the other hand, as you read this you're staring at something flickering at 60Hz. No idea what frequency lights flicker at.
Edited by scarble on Tuesday 13th January 22:54
scarble said:
Interesting, it seems the glass is relied on as the filter, I had assumed the phosphor coating did that, though now that I think about it, mercury vapour lamps without phosphor. I didn't think they were all that strongly UV either, in fact being mostly in the high end of visible light but apparently I was wrong and they even emit enough UV to cause trouble with some plastics, though there are also strong peaks at much lower frequencies.
The low pressure mercury vapour lights used in fluorescents are mainly UV; there's almost nothing visible from the mercury itself, it's all phosphor glow.scarble said:
The flickering on the other hand, as you read this you're staring at something flickering at 60Hz. No idea what frequency lights flicker at.
100 Hz usually I think; once for each half of the wave as it goes through the zero crossing.Computer monitors don't flicker at 60 Hz (unless you're on an old CRT); the actual flicker rate depends on the specific monitor and brightness setting of the backlight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp#E...
I was vaguely aware that 60Hz didn't apply any more but it still stands, computer screens flicker, TVs flicker, so if you can sit at home with your nice warm halogen lamps and not get a migrane.. while watching TV or posting on PH, maybe it's nothing to do with flickering?
I was vaguely aware that 60Hz didn't apply any more but it still stands, computer screens flicker, TVs flicker, so if you can sit at home with your nice warm halogen lamps and not get a migrane.. while watching TV or posting on PH, maybe it's nothing to do with flickering?
Flibble said:
I've tried a few different LED bulbs and there is a lot of difference between the cheap ones and the expensive ones. You get what you pay for. Look for 2700K (very warm white) bulbs for a good approximation of incandescents.
I think this calls for a chart (all light bulbs have a specific burning colour temperature, measured in Kelvin degrees):
Sure, but as Senor Flib has quite rightly stated, that only really gives an idea of the dominant wavelengths in the visible spectrum and depending on the light source there can be large peaks in non-visible areas, as that wiki link shows rather nicely for mercury vapour, it's not the case that all light given off is centred around one frequency tapering off in a nice bell curve.
If you look at a CFL through a diffraction grating you can see the different bands of intense light (they correlate with the phosphors), if you do that with an incandescent you get a nice smooth spectrum. I used to have some photos I took of the effect, not sure if I still have them.
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