Health Problems Ignored In The Incandescent Bulb Ban

[Barbara]

By Rich Mintzer
17 Jan 2012

....the impending ban on incandescent light bulbs, at least here in the United States, has been put on hold. A mid-December concession in the battle to pass a new budget saw the ban on 100-watt incandescent bulbs (that was supposed to begin in January) delayed until October of 2012.
....

Studies estimate that nearly one-quarter of the population, with varying degrees of light sensitivity (photophobia), may suffer negative physical effects if this ban becomes a reality. For this portion of the population, the most commonly found alternative, fluorescent lights (particularly the CFLs), may triggers headaches, migraines, stomachaches, fatigue, eye strain, anxiety, and irritability. Fluorescent lights can also negatively impact the immune system, literally making people sick.

According to a November 2011 edition of the Vancouver Sun, a study from Natural Resources Canada revealed that fluorescent lights could intensify light sensitivity, a trigger of migraines for some individuals.
A study by the UK Migraine Action Association (2007) found that fluorescent lights cause nausea, dizziness, and even physical pain for those suffering with lupus.

Here in the United States, concern about the affects fluorescent lighting prompted the state of California to make accommodations available for students with light sensitivity, allowing them to take tests in rooms that do not have fluorescent lights.
And a posting on Headachemag.com may have summed it all up: "I wear a visor and wrap around sunglasses in church, malls and in friends homes. The new light bulbs are killing me."

The Irlen Institute, which has 148 clinics in 54 countries, typically works to identify children and adults who struggle to read due to a visual processing disorder called Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome, widely known as Irlen Syndrome. However, while working to identify and counter Irlen Syndrome through the use of specially made colored lenses, Irlen clinics were surprised by an influx of hundreds of thousands of children and adults with light sensitivity, all of whom reported physical symptoms triggered by ongoing exposure to florescent lights. They were looking for relief from their symptoms.
....

"Energy conservation is an important goal that we should all strive to achieve, but there are ways to conserve energy that do not potentially hurt 25% of the population," says Helen Irlen, and I most certainly agree.


http://energy.aol.com/2012/01/17/hea...6pLid%3D128385

[Luc]

Unfortunately so (and so typically), again, this whole banning of the incandescent bulb was money motivated (lobbies/corporations, etc.) Interestingly, many folks experience DP/DR when exposed to fluorescent lights. And, last but not least, how could we live w/o this image? ----> The incandescent bulb, be back!

[Sheila]

I am so relieved that this information is coming out. I have been feeling depersonalized by the whole fluorescent craze in the US the last few years. Like, am I the only person who remembers all the material that came out in the 1970s about fluorescent light causing neurological problems?!?!

[Sheila]

Ha ha! I had to log back in to continue my rant! As you say, Luc, and as Robert Whitaker says in his interview with cinephile on SA, US journalism is currently ridiculously un-investigative. You really cannot trust 4/5ths of what you read in the newspaper. News articles are almost entirely press releases for Big Business. Arrrghhh!

[Luc]

Ha ha! I had to log back in to continue my rant! As you say, Luc, and as Robert Whitaker says in his interview with cinephile on SA, US journalism is currently ridiculously un-investigative. You really cannot trust 4/5ths of what you read in the newspaper. News articles are almost entirely press releases for Big Business. Arrrghhh!

Absolutely. The mainstream media all over the world is One Huge Status Quo Upholding Machine. It's SO extreme, it's not even funny. The amount of things I've learnt thanks to the alterantive media (they're, in fact, THE mainstream media now) that have been in striking contrast to the pulp we're served by the corporate dinosaurs is nothing short of shocking. Mainstream media is, to put it bluntly, gigantic falsified news churning-out behemoth.

On a side note, certain ideas that seemed to me outlandish years and months ago (some in a category of so called "conspiracy theories") under closer scrutiny, turned out to be 100% true. It's now the mainstream media propaganda that is outlandish for me. All thanks to the Internet. Can you imagine this? You can verify almost everything in a couple of clicks (ok, sometimes more).

As someone wrote in one of the web comments I came across sometime ago;

"The internet is an intellectual jungle, where lies and liars are quickly exposed and savaged. That is the new reality. This is survival of the fittest, which means survival of the most accurate, where winning by spending enough money to force people to believe as they are told to believe is an obsolete relic of a bygone age."

[Luc]

I am so relieved that this information is coming out. I have been feeling depersonalized by the whole fluorescent craze in the US the last few years. Like, am I the only person who remembers all the material that came out in the 1970s about fluorescent light causing neurological problems?!?!

I had it big time today. I had to endure being exposed to the fluorescent light for a couple of hours. Crazy. Fought off a panic attack for a half of that time.

[stan]

in France, we find now only 40 watt or 25 watt in supermarket, i heard it is a european directive
or we have to buy halogen lamp
but as the fluorescent do not support switching often
i have no fluorescent at home, but when my stock of Incandescent Bulb will be empty, i will buy halogen wich are more close to natural hot light
in supermarket, i of course, have problems with fluo

[Sheila]

Luc -- Yes, thank goodness for the alternative press and for the Internet! And, yes, I too have become a convinced conspiracy theorist. Now that my own life is like a Kafka story, how can I dismiss anyone else's crazy tale without at least researching it?


Stan -- That's terrible about the unavailability of incandescent bulbs in France. What a conspiracy!


And we haven't even mentioned the mercury in fluorescent bulbs! If you break one, it's a health hazard. So, we're dumping zillions of used bulbs into landfills where they're breaking and filling the soil with mercury -- a neurotoxin.

[Luc]

Luc -- Yes, thank goodness for the alternative press and for the Internet! And, yes, I too have become a convinced conspiracy theorist. Now that my own life is like a Kafka story, how can I dismiss anyone else's crazy tale without at least researching it?

That's precisely it. I have the same; before judging anyone/anything, I check the stuff, and so far I've come to incredible conclusions regarding a plethora of things.

[Luc]

in France, we find now only 40 watt or 25 watt in supermarket, i heard it is a european directive
or we have to buy halogen lamp
but as the fluorescent do not support switching often
i have no fluorescent at home, but when my stock of Incandescent Bulb will be empty, i will buy halogen wich are more close to natural hot light
in supermarket, i of course, have problems with fluo

We've got the same, Stan. The laws and regulations are proliferating exponentially, and to the point of absurd, and it all at the our expense, and to line the big fishes' pockets, and to control us all better.