Environmentally friendly light bulbs ‘can give you skin cancer’

[BonnieJW]

What do we think about this????

Energy-saving light bulbs can be bad for your skin, doctors are warning.

The fluorescent devices produce a more intense light and can aggravate a range of existing problems, especially in those with light-sensitive conditions.
Eco-bulbs are due to become compulsory in British homes within four years. But campaigners want the Government to allow an opt-out so people with health problems can still use old-style incandescent bulbs.

Read more...
Energy-saving bulbs 'can cause migraines' warn experts
There have been growing concerns that low-energy light can trigger migraines, as well as dizziness, loss of focus and discomfort among those with epilepsy.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-506082/Environmentally-friendly-light-bulbs-skin-cancer.html

[Warpy]

1. CFLs don't trigger my migraines

and are usually aimed at a wall to diffuse the light unless I'm using them for task lighting, so my skin cancer risk is minimal.

I can't say the same for all those years of working nights in a hospital with huge numbers of fluorescent fixtures blazing overhead.

[cliffordu]

2. I dunno. A nice scientific study of some sort would be nice, with actual

fat free data to support these claims but these days that's a bit much to ask, I guess.

I wonder if this was funded by an incandescent bulb manufacturer....

:shrug:

[MattBaggins]

11. I can testify that they will trigger migraines

I hate just about all florescent lights. They flicker not stop and make my eyes feel like someone was trying to pop them out from the inside.

[katkat]

27. accidentally posted twice so deleted one. n/t

[MineralMan]

3. I hear that they also cause swine flu...even if you've been vaccinated.

BAN THEM NOW!

[Sal Minella]

14. And they made my granddaughter pregnant,

but I can't get anybody to listen to me about this. BAN THEM NOW.

[pipi_k]

15. They made my son-in-law pregnant...those things are dangerous!!!!

The family is agog

[MineralMan]

18. Girls will be boys and boys will be girls

It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, except for Lola.

[Sal Minella]

19. Walks like a woman but she talks like a man, that's Lola

Many years ago, a dear grad student tried futilely to teach me to dance the Brooklyn Hustle to that song. Ah memories.

It's a wonder he didn't become pregnant, now that I ponder 'pon it.

heh.

For the youngest among us -- turn up the speakers, plz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixqbc7X2NQY

[MineralMan]

17. I don't know, but I suspect she lied to you, grams...

[Sal Minella]

26. Maybe that's not actually what she said.

My hearing seems to be in Fade Mode lately.

Maybe she was just asking me to pass the mashed turnips or something . . .

[Schema Thing]

4. When I read the word "intense", suddenly the light on my computer

screen became blinding!

[NYC_SKP]

5. They are also responsible for Infertility, Erectile Dysfunction, and Flatulence...

...among those who believe everything they read coming from Great Britain.

:P

:donut:

[Gman2]

6. My clones seem to like them.

[brendan120678]

7. Here's a serious question not unrelated...

I've got a few of the CFLs in some light fixtures, but one has apparently gone out.

Now that it doesn't work, what do I do with it? I'm probably going to just throw it away, because I really don't think that the amount of mercury in one bulb will effect a tick on a flea's back. However, once these start going out in mass quantities in 6-7 years, what's to be done with them?

[SidDithers]

13. Here, our local Home Depot has a CFL collection bin...

http://www.homedepot.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/DisplayTemplate?display=cfl_lander&langId=-15&storeId=10051&catalogId=10051

I'd assume that US stores would too. :hi:

Sid

[katkat]

21. call your local recycling people and ask

They probably take them at hazardous recycling day. I have a box in my garage and hazardous stuff accumulates in there until I have enough to make a trip there.

[SidDithers]

25. Please be careful about keeping hazardous materials in the same box...

some of those things (swimming pool chemicals, household cleaners, batteries) if accidently mixed together, can produce ... umm ... interesting results.

Sid

[niyad]

31. if there is an ACE hardware near you, ask them--mine recycles the cfl's, thank goodness.

I HATED the idea of going to home depot to dispose of them.

[asjr]

8. And they simply refuse to wash my dishes!

[Gold Metal Flake]

9. The effect can be blocked with layers of tin foil.

lots and lots of tin foil.

[FarCenter]

10. There's really no reason to use CFLs in the winter

Since you need the heat anyway.

[SidDithers]

12. Why do people use the Daily Mail, as if it were a reputable source?...

They're a right-wing british tabloid. Like a print version of World Nut Daily.

Sid

[alfredo]

16. CFL's are a transition technology. LED's are the next step.

[Iggo]

20. I heard the Sun can, too.

[katkat]

22. migraines

They did trigger migraines for me.

I had them in every fixture in the house and started getting 2-3 migraines a week, as opposed to normally one every 2 months or so.

Swapped back in incandescents and back to normal. I only have the incandescents where I spend a lot of time, otherwise I left the CFLs in. And I'm accumulating a bunch of incandescents every time I go to the store now and hording them. Dunno what I will do when they're no longer made,.

[FarCenter]

30. LEDs are powered with direct current, so they don't flicker

It is probably the flicker of flourescent lamps that triggers migraines and other effects.

As far as I know, there should be no difference between CFLs and other flourescent lamps.

[Barack_America]

23. Skin cancer often shows up DECADES after exposure.

In "normal" people.

So, think a bit about how long these light bulbs have been on the market, and how a researcher might or might not be able to separate out previous sun exposure from light bulb use.

Who they seem to be cautioning are people suffering from disorders such as Xeroderma Pigmentosum, who suffer from DNA damage repair defects and are very sensitive to light (as in the can't go outside on sunny days degree of sensitivity). Could these light bulbs be dangerous for those people? Sure. But does that mean anything to the population at large? Absolutely not.

[tjwash]

24. Wow...a sensationalist headline, peppered with multiple question marks, backed by a british tabloid

:thumbsup:

Priceless

[katkat]

28. It must be wonderful

to be a regular, healthy person, who never has problems with meds or CFLs or vaccines or paint fumes or migraines or whatever, and so thinks anyone who does wears a tin hat.

Reminds me of the teeth threads where some insensitive moron was claiming everyone with genetic problems or whatever just had to brush their teeth regularly and their problems would be solved.

[LeftHander]

29. The study, funded by the Association of Power Producers...(nt)