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The millions of building owners and homeowners who have embraced those funny-looking eco-friendly light bulbs are getting a hit of unfriendly UV rays with their lighting, a team of New York scientists has discovered.
The unintended exposure comes from widespread cracking and chipping of the bulb coatings designed to absorb the UV radiation, according to a new study by researchers at Stony Brook University.
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CFL bulb via Shutterstock |
| The phosphor coating on the twisty new-generation bulbs “is brittle and has trouble making the tight bends required to make these bulbs compact,” the lead researcher says. |
“Measurements of UV emissions from these bulbs found significant levels of UVC and UVA…, which appeared to originate from cracks in the phosphor coatings, present in all bulbs studied,” reports the team led by Miriam Rafailovich, a professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the university's Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces.
How significant was the exposure? Skin damage from the inadequately coated compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) “was consistent with damage from UV radiation,” the team reported July 20 in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology.
Looking for Bald Spots
Millions of facilities and homes have made the switch from incandescent bulbs to the twisty-looking compact fluorescents. Inspired by a European study on light sensitivity, the Stony Brook researchers looked into the potential impact of UV exposure from the new bulbs on healthy human skin tissue.
After buying a wide array of CFL bulbs from retail stores around Long Island, NY, the team measured each bulb for levels of UV emissions and examined each for signs of cracking in the phosphor coating that is applied to the narrow glass tubing.
The coating is designed to enhance the bulb's luminescence capacity while absorbing UV radiation that would otherwise be emitted. The researchers warn that if the bulb's surface area is riddled with “bald” spots, UV protection is lost.
Brittle Coating, Tight Turns
The result: Cracked coating on every bulb, regardless of manufacturer or brand, was found to emit “significant” levels of both UVC and UVA rays, the team reported.
The bulbs “have cracks in the phosphor coating, probably due to the fact that the coating is brittle and has trouble making the tight bends required to make these bulbs compact,” said Rafailovich. “As a result, we observed, by eye, defects in nearly all the bulbs that we studied.”
The resulting effect on healthy skin was “consistent” with the damage typically caused by the sun, the team found. By contrast, exposure to incandescent bulbs of similar strength inflicted no skin cell damage.
Switched on Fluorescents
Compact fluorescents are quickly replacing incandescent bulbs by the millions.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health notes that the newer technology uses about 75% less energy than standard incandescents, and it will soon be illegal to sell incandescent bulbs for home use in the U.S.
Rafailovich warns, however, that the new-generation bulbs “are fragile, the phosphor is easily damaged, and possibly dangerous amounts of UV are emitted.”
“Therefore, it's best not to use these bulbs at close range—less than a couple of feet—or look directly at them,” she said. “To be safe, they should be used behind a glass cover, or kept at a distance of several feet or more.”
The findings came as a surprise, Rafailovich told one reporter.
“You should not need suntan lotion to protect you from indoor lighting,” she said.
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