Posted on 01/04/2008 7:41:31 AM PST by fanfan
Using environmentally friendly light bulbs can be seriously bad for your skin, doctors warn.
New energy-saving bulbs produce a more intense light which can cause eruptions of existing skin problems, like eczema, and even lead to skin cancer, they claim.
The revelation comes after health experts warned the fluorescent bulbs, which are to become compulsory in homes within four years, could trigger migraines and cause dizziness and discomfort to people with epilepsy.
The lives of thousands of people may be threatened if the government's plan to phase out the normal variety of incandescent lighting goes ahead without exemptions.
Sufferers could be prevented from using electric light in their own homes, visit family and friends, or have access to employment and public services.
The warning has been issued by Spectrum, an alliance of charities working with people with light sensitive conditions, and the British Association of Dermatologists.
The government wants to phase out traditional, incandescent bulbs by 2011 but no allowances have been made for people suffering from light sensitive conditions who often suffer severe and painful reactions to fluorescent lighting and other forms of non-incandescent lighting.
Spectrum is running a campaign to raise awareness of the impact on people's health in response to the government decision to ban incandescent light bulbs.
They claim as many as 340,000 people could be affected.
Andrew Langford, chief executive officer of Skin Care Campaign, one of the charities involved, said: “Incandescent light bulbs are the only source of electric light for many thousands of people with light sensitive conditions.
”Add to this the thousands of people whose conditions or treatments may secondarily cause them to be light sensitive, and you have a large number of people potentially being isolated in the dark.
”The government simply must allow incandescent light bulbs to be available to these people, their families, friends and employers, and at a fair price.”
Dr Colin Holden, President of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: “It is important that patients with photosensitive skin eruptions are allowed to use lights that don't exacerbate their condition.
”Photosensitive eruptions range from disabling eczema-like reactions, to light sensitivities that can lead to skin cancer.
It is essential that such patients are able to protect themselves from specific wavelengths of light emitted by fluorescent bulbs, especially as they are often trapped indoors because they can't venture out in natural sunlight.”
Spectrum is urging the government to maintain the availability of incandescent light bulbs purely to those who are affected, which will enable the protection of the environment without penalising those unable to live with fluorescent lighting.
One option could simply be to allow the purchase of environmentally-friendly, energy efficient incandescent light bulbs which GE Consumer and Industrial is currently developing and hopes to market in 2010.
Spectrum argues that the total social exclusion for thousands of vulnerable, sick and disabled people, resulting from an unconditional ban, would contradict many other policies of the government, including Disability Equality Duty, which came into force on 4 December 2006, and the Green Paper on Welfare Reform published in January 2006.
Incandescent light bulbs......from my cold dead hands.
I was just considering where my candles are, and how I’ll set ‘em up in my study.
Humans were designed (creation or evolution) to operate during the day and sleep at night - not keep going ad nauseum thanks to bright lights 24/7. Use candles to extend twilight a bit perhaps, but enough with simulated daylight past midnight.
I like it, and it’s better for the environment too: organically simple wax-and-wick instead of unnatural glass-and-mercury.
bump
I call BS.
“a more intense light which can cause eruptions of existing skin problems, like eczema, “
Funny, a friend of mine has eczema and hi Dr recommended to help clear his eczema he should sit under more intense light like the sun or fluorescent sun lamps...and it’s helped!
Doesn’t that increase your carbon footprint?
Great shelf life.
Get ‘em
I’ll agree about the migraines. I hadn’t heard about the other problems. Gee, thanks, enviro-wackos (including the President).
Wait till all the women in this country wake up to the fact that fluorescent lighting makes them look ghastly, really ghastly......including totally accentuating even minor bags under the eyes.
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I already realized that and replaced all my “efficient bulbs”.
I have sarcoidosis, a more rare auto-immune diagnosis than lupus, and had noticed sun sensitivity years before the sarcoid diagnosis. After 20 years, the sensitivity got to the point that I'd get fever and chills for days after a day in the sun.
Depends on what the candle is made of, and what your electricity source is.
If your electricity comes from burning coal (IIRC mine is), then the carbon footprint is relatively high because you're releasing carbon, which was long locked away in an inert form, into the atmosphere.
If your electricity comes from hydro or nuclear sources, then the carbon footprint is zilch.
If your candle is made from distilled fossil fuels, then - like coal-based electricity - carbon is being added to the atmosphere which hasn't been there for a looooong time.
If your candle is made from "organic" materials (soy, beeswax, etc.) then you're returning carbon to the atmosphere where it was just a few months ago - hence a practical net 0 carbon footprint.
Choose accordingly.
This will send the nanny staters into a tailspin.
Choose accordingly.
I did. Nearly all of my electricity come from my solar PV array on the roof...
I think I’ll fit my next house for gaslights.
Gee, GregF, I could have written your post. I bloody well hate flourescent lights and always have. Even as a kid, I had to leave supermarkets and other stores lit with flourescents very quickly as the “vibes” were very irritating to body, mind and spirit. Candelabra for sure.
Just who are the idiots mandating this stupid unhealthy change? Anyone we can vote out?
The guys that made this change are the boobs in the Congress and the boober in chief in the White House that signed the legislation. And yes, we can vote them out.
“Environmentally friendly light bulb” contains an unknown glowing substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
If “environmentally friendly light bulb” begins to smoke, seek shelter and cover head.
Thanks, Happy New Year!
Wow, what extremes we go through to look cool. ;^)
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