Are fluorescent lights killing me?
 

Ever since I installed CFL's in my house i have felt unwell. The light is too bright and hurts my head. Could it be that they are robbing me of a happy life?

Fluorescent lights emit a narrower spectrum of visible light than incandescents and can produce symptoms similar to seasonal affective disorder. Additionally, certain ballasts cause a 60hz flicker (50hz in Europe) which can trigger migraines or casue eyestrain; I know they can for me. Certain lights can also emit a high pitched whine on the edge of the audible spectrum, similar to the sound of a CRT's flyback transformer. This sound makes me feel sick to my stomach and makes my mind feel clouded and less sharp than usual.

As for health effects,
Unless you're a strain of bacteria, you should be fine as far as negative effects from the lights themselves.

neddy65,

If I were you and felt that way, I would change my light bulb right away. Actually probably not. I'm too lazy. I would feel bad about it for a couple of months and change it then, when I could no longer stand it. Then it would be too late, since I would be too weak due to exposure to the life-sapping light bulb.

Best wishes.

I tried CFL's in my house but they hurt my head for the reasons specified by MrSelfDestruct. So popped them out and got a bunch of the natural light incandescents. They burn more energy but don't suck as bad as CFL. I can't wait for CFL to be required by law!

Flourescents have always made me feel sick. If I'm in a room with them for too long (more than 3 hours) I begin to get a headache and feel nauseous.

If I were you I'd change them out immediately for incandescent bulbs. No point in keeping them if you are feeling unwell, even if it costs a bit more on the electic bill.

What MSD said...happens to me too. Those lights aren't killing you, they just don't like you.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal.../266724a0.html
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...2434&tools=bot

It may very well be dangerous, but everything is dangerous. Cell phones may cause cancer, magnetic field may cause cancer, starlight may cause cancer, vaccines may cause cancer, viruses may cause cancer, mouthwash might cause cancer, and yes, even Willravel might cause cancer.

When I worked in the HR department at a large sales & marketing firm in N. CA. I was told to gather info in regard to this very subject. More data was found that said the majority of full time workers "seemed" to feel better when exposed to incandescent light. It appears that workers complained less about headaches and lethargy. That said...if you feel the flourescent lights are making you sick - then they probably are.

Have you done any serious online reasearch or are you waiting for us to share our data & research with you?

Change your lights and let us know how you are feeling after, say, 6 weeks or more. /Bet you're going to feel somewhat better/

I know that in the "tube" type flourescents, they have a lot of variety as far as what kind of light. For example, I have some "daylights" on one side of my workshop, and some "regular" (cheapies) on the other. The "daylight" side is MUCH easier to see into darker corners and is more akin to having a skylight above rather than flourescents.

Fluorescent light is non-ionizing radiation. Cell phone signals are non-ionizing radiation. Wi-Fi radio is non-ionizing radiation. Magnets have a negligible effect on the human body. starlight is non-ionizing radiation. Vaccines may cause cancer but no causal correlation has been demonstrated yet. Some viruses do cause cancer. Mouthwash, left in place for long enough, may cause cancer. You are a mad scientist and therefore the arbitrator of who gets and does not get cancer from you.

You could drape your head with a tea-towel - or small blanket. That should help.

OMG!
That explains it ;)

Not you, per se... but the environment.

They have a ton of mercury in them, I think.

I actually had horrible headaches from the fluorescent lights in my office above my desk. I'd have to go home early a few days a week. I did a bunch of research and found out that diffusers might help headaches, if you can diffuse the brightness of the fluorescents. I got a couple for my office and it actually did a good job of reducing the headaches. Maybe they could help you too. You can google it.....I think the ones I have are skypanels or something.

Hope this helps you! Good luck!

According to this article: http://web.archive.org/web/200511030...tsheet-cfl.pdf

the amount of mercury is about 4mg.

http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partner...et_Mercury.pdf

Even if dumped in a landfill, by virtue of lower power consumption a CFL will keep approximately 4mg of mercury out of the air that would be released by burning the coal to cover the extra 47w an incandescent bulb would require for the same light output. Ikea will take your old CFLs and recycle them for free, meaning zero mercury released.

try indirect lighting, such as a "candlestick" floor lamp with an opaque shade to force the light up and reflecting from ceiling/walls.

They kill germs, molds, and viruses many hospitals use them for those reasons.

Probably. Your best bet is to bust them with a hammer or something and then throw them in the trash.

I'm curious where you get this idea.

UV bulbs do have these properties, but are an entirely different specialized makeup. They are used in cleanrooms and other environments that need to be cleared of foreign DNA for short 30-minute bursts. They're also used in water filtration systems.

Its not hard to find.

It's possible, but we're not sure yet.

Health Canada testing compact fluorescent bulbs for harmful radiation
So you'll need to use the lights that are on the outsides of this picture rather than the corkscrew style CFLs.

http://s3files.core77.com/blog/image...amps_Image.jpg

Do yourself a huge favor and get rid of them. They can trigger migraines, contain mercury and can be defective. I had one of those blow and catch fire earlier this year.
And not one of them lasted any longer than a normal lightbulb. If you want to save energy and thusly, money, get yourself LED's.

JJ, I assume that was in jest. In addition to releasing the mercury by smashing the bulb with a hammer, the glass splinters worse than an incandescent. They are supposed to be disposed of as you would hazardous materials.