be suitable for some people with ME/CFS and other conditions. This
paper appears to collect the evidence from the literature and so I
thought might be of use/interest to some]
Free full text: pdf: http://bit.ly/qrzJyV i.e.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0781.2011.00576.x/pdf
or html: http://bit.ly/qugbDk i.e.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0781.2011.00576.x/full
or
The risk to normal and photosensitive individuals from exposure to
light from compact fluorescent lamps.
Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2011 Jun;27(3):131-7. doi:
10.1111/j.1600-0781.2011.00576.x.
Moseley H, Ferguson J.
Source
Photobiology Unit, Department of Dermatology, Ninewells Hospital &
Medical School, Dundee, UK. h.moseley@dundee.ac.uk
Abstract
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE:
The incandescent electric light bulb has been in widespread use since
the early part of the 20th century. There is now a strong move
underway to improve lighting efficiency to cut carbon dioxide
emissions. As a result, many countries have introduced legislation to
phase out the use of incandescent bulbs, and these are largely being
replaced with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The rate at which CFLs
are replacing the traditional bulbs has caused alarm among patients
with light-sensitive skin disorders as there has been very little
informed discussion regarding the safety of these new lamps for this
group of patients. The purpose of the present paper is to review the
available literature to assess the likely impact of CFLs on the skin
of normal and photosensitive individuals.
METHODS:
All data sources were identified through searches of MEDLINE and a
manual literature search.
RESULTS:
The spectrum of light emitted by CFLs is different from incandescent
light. In particular, some CFLs emit short wavelength UV radiation at
253.7=E2=80=83nm. Most published reports show that the short wavelengths ca=
n
be eliminated by the use of a double envelope. There are very little
data examining directly the risk to photosensitive individuals. In one
study, a patient with chronic actinic dermatitis had a severe
erythematous reaction from an exposure of only 2.5min' duration.
CONCLUSION:
CFLs present a low level of risk to individuals of normal sensitivity
but they are potentially harmful to photosensitive patients. We
recommend the use of double envelope lamps, and consideration given to
the adoption of a 'UV-safe' classification scheme.
=C2=A9 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
PMID: 21535166 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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