| Govt distributes LED lamps, experts warn against their use | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Mar 8: While Jammu and Kashmir government has been encouraging use of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, experts and various studies have revealed that LEDs can adversely impact human health. Experts also caution that LED lighting if not installed in moderation, could cause serious damage to the health of human beings.
Researchers and expert comments assume significance in J&K as government has been distributing LED bulbs in the state to save the power consumption.
LEDs are semiconductors that make old-fashioned light bulbs (incandescent) and even energy savers (compact fluorescents) look incredibly inefficient.
Prolonged exposure to blue light, which is 10% more in LED than in CFL lighting, will lead to eye strain, and vision problems, Lighting Designer and Educator Anil Valia recently said.
The CFLs contain about 25% of harmful blue light and LEDs contain about 35% of the same. The whiter the LED, the higher the blue light proportion, he mentioned.
"Taking a break of 20 seconds from digital gadgets every 20 minutes, and looking away focussing on something 20 feet away will help maintain comfortable vision," Valia had said even while citing the United States Department of Energy's claim that LED lights are no more harmful than any other lighting.
According to a report of American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Science and Public Health after looking at LED street lighting on US roadways found that blue light it emits can be "harmful". "The human eye perceives the large amount of blue light emitted by LEDs as white. Blue light directly affects sleep by suppressing the production of the hormone melatonin, which mediates the sleep-wake cycle in humans," the study says.
The US report says that compared with conventional street lighting, the blue-rich white LED is five times more disruptive to sleep cycle. It has suggested that a long-term increase in the risk for cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity caused by chronic sleep disruption due to exposure to blue light. "The excessive blue wavelength contributes to glare effects as a result of larger scattering in the human eye."
Contrary to the popular notion that bright LED lighting increases road safety, the report says discomfort and disability glare caused by unshielded, bright LED lighting negatively impacts visual acuity, thus "decreasing safety and creating road hazards. |
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