Energy-saving lightbulbs worsen skin conditions
Rushda:
January 5th, 2008
A new study has found that despite there being many benefits of low-energy lightbulbs in helping the environment, they can in fact be harmful to those with skin conditions by causing painful rashes to develop or worsen. Thousands of people are at risk if they have photosensitive skin problems.
Fluorescent bulbs, which use about a quarter of the energy of conventional bulbs, have long been marketed by the light industry as one of the major things we should all be switching to in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, they are part of the government aim which is to stop the sale of ordinary bulbs by 2011 in order to meet its environment aims. This is all particularly worrying as there are more and more low-energy bulbs coming into use in the home and also in public places.
Many experts including British Association of Dermatologists has asked that the switch shouldn’t be made too hastily and people with such skin conditions must be able to continue to use ordinary bulbs and insist that their workplaces use them under the Disability Discrimination Act. After all, the problem is a serious one and it is estimated that 100,000 people in the UK with the condition will be affected in some way. However, representatives from the lighting industry say that there should be no need to carry on using conventional bulbs as they will now develop alternatives to fluorescent bulbs.
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. 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.”
For those who have long insisted that low energy bulbs are the ultimate way forward, this new piece of news puts them in a problematic position, especially considering that only recently it was announced that low-energy bulbs are bad in other ways, including causing migraines. It seems that as a nation we have become obsessed with saving the environment - at the expense of possible harm to ourselves.