[Greenbuilding] studies on CFLs and health issues

[RT]

On Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:10:21 -0500, David Bergman <bergman at cyberg.com>  
wrote:

> Has anyone seen any studies regarding side effects of or problems due
> to CFLs or LEDs?

Can't cite any studies but I do have some anecdotal evidence to share...

In the twenty-some years since I began using CFLs in my home I've noticed  
that:

(1) My eyesight has gotten worse
(2) My hair has gotten more and more grey
(3) My ability to remember things has diminished
(4) My libido has decreased
(5) My tolerance for inanity has decreased
(6) In wintertime (ie more time spent indoors) my weight and waist line  
increases
... and a whole bunch more stuff that I can't seem to remember at the  
moment.

And I would be willing to wager that 98.6% of the population of this List  
has experienced similar if not identical symptoms. Yeah, blame those  
funny-looking CFLs and LEDs.


But (a little more) seriously...

If an environment is such that the natural lighting is so poor that people  
start to have concerns about exposure to light from CFL or LED bulbs then  
I'd venture that

(1) They're spending way too much time indoors and should probably get  
outside more and
(2) They'd do well to seek ways to incorporate more daylighting techniques


That being said, I do remember back when as an archi-student I went to see  
an opthamologist because I found that the flourescent lighting of the  
school studio where I was spending 100+ hour weeks was bothering my eyes.

The eye doc told me that my vision was perfect but that my eyes didn't  
like the UV radiation emitted by the flourescents so he gave me a  
prescription for what were essentially fancy sunglasses that I could wear  
indoors.

After First Year when it was no longer mandatory that studio time be done  
at the school's studio and I worked at my home studio with incandescent  
and natural lighting, there was no longer any need for the spectacles.

Years later, in the Real World when computer screens replaced desks and  
drawing boards, the eyeball hell syndrome returned and another trip to an  
opthamologist resulted in an almost identical diagnosis as the previous  
trip -- perfect vision but eyeballs reacting to the UV radiation ... and  
almost the same remedy (before the days of LCD and LED monitors).. glass  
filters that were placed over the screen to reduce radiation + "computer"  
glasses.

Notwithstanding the tongue-in-cheekiness of the "symptoms" mentioned at  
the outset of this post, I can't help but wonder if some of the "side  
effects" that people are attributing to the use of CFLs and LEDs might  
also be a result of the indoor environment (and lifestyle) where they are  
perhaps spending too much time (ie instead of more active lifestyles and  
more time spent away from situations where long periods are spent under  
artificial lighting.

-- 
=== * ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

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