What Makes a Safe Light Bulb – The Definitive Guide

Have you ever thought about whether your light bulbs are safe or giving off EMF radiation?

Newer light bulbs that have been developed to be more energy efficient, are actually some of the worst offenders.

Lighting are a big part of indoor spaces, and probably one of the biggest investments you can when you are renovate or making a brand new home. It takes time, energy, and money to decide exactly how you light up your indoor space — and it creates the light environment that you’re going to live in day after day.

Because you turn these on at night, extending your “daylight” hours, the type of light bulb you choose to fit your home in determines the quality of your environment.

Brief history of light bulbs

Thomas Edison is credited with inventing the first light bulb in 1878. They relied on the heat generated by a tungsten wire contained in a glass bulb and were called incandescent light bulbs. They are simple, and also generated heat, which can be useful in cooler climates.

As energy-efficiency considerations arose, however, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognised that energy efficient alternatives needed to be made readily available and become the new standard for Americans. It, along with other governments, looked for ways to reduce energy use en masse.

The aim was to accelerate America’s shift from inefficient, dated lighting products to innovative, high-performance products that can save American consumers and business owners money.[r]

On 3 August 2011, the DOE officially announced Philips Electronics North America as the first winner of the L Prize competition with an LED replacement for the 60-watt incandescent bulb.

The $10 million U.S. government prize marked the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to challenge lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, ultra-efficient solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb with energy-saving lighting alternatives.

Philips turned out to be the only official entrant in the competition and the LED bulb retails at $40, far more than people are used to paying for a light bulb. Government support would be crucial to help the LED be competitive in the market. [r]

So this was a big deal. With the backing of government policies and commitment by other governments in the world, traditional light bulbs began to be replaced by a new technology — the light-emitting diode, or LED.

The LED light bulb

the increasingly popular LED bulbs. LED or Light-Emitting Diode bulbs rely on (you guessed it) a diode to produce light. The diode controls the direction of the energy flow. They are illuminated solely by the movement of electrons within a semiconductor material.

An LED contains blue light, a driver, and a fluorescent sheet that covers the blue light by extending the wavelengths producing a more yellowish or orange light. In this way, it is similar to a type of fluorescent light; it can fool your brain into thinking it is a more natural light but does not protect you from the dangers of blue light exposure, especially at night.

There are two primary dangers when it comes to LED light bulbs:

• Exposure to blue light

• Creation of drty electricity (a form of negative EMF) and electromagnetic radiation

The health impact of LEDs

However, research around the health impact of a new lighting technology emerged.

blue light from sources like your phone, laptop, and LED bulbs suppresses melatonin production, the hormone responsible for regulating quality sleep and wakefulness.

Blue light can also induce headaches and migraines, worsening any pain symptoms that you have. It results in eye pain and fatigue, which was commonly called in the 1980s and 1990s as “computer vision syndrome”.

There are countless clinical studies that support the harmful effects of blue light especially for people who prone to headaches or migraine attacks. Researchers have suggested that there is a specific neural pathway from the eyes to the brain—separate from how vision is transmitted—that ultimately causes blue light wavelengths to worsen headache pain and other symptoms.

Some researchers suggest it is the specific wavelength, in and around 480nm, that leads to high discomfort. It creates a pain perception and even enhanced spreading of headache pain across the brain.

Finally, blue light from LEDs can damage your retina.

If you want to learn much more about blue light toxicity, check out these articles:

• Are you living in junk light?

• Study shows light at night increases your risk of type 2 diabetes

• Blue light can cause precocious puberty

CFL Light Bulbs

As mentioned, LEDs are similar to CFL or Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs.

These are even more dangerous, probably the least safe light bulb on the market today. This is because the CFL use an electric current driven through a tube typically containing mercury vapor.

ALL fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury vapor, which emits a lot of UV rays when hit with an electric current. Increased absorption of such UV radiation from CFLs has been linked to a variety of health effects and skin disorders.

One key study showing this direct cause is from 2012 study. Researchers from the State University of New York at Stony Brook showed in a paper that tiny defects in the bulbs can let through UV light that can damage skin cells and lead to cancer. Not one CFL bulb they studied did not have any cracks or defects in the phospor coatings. This meant the bulbs emitted very significant levels of UVC and UVA.

The energy efficient compact fluorescent lights that are commercially available generate radio frequency radiation and ultraviolet radiation, they contain mercury—a known neurotoxin, and they are making some people ill. Instead of promoting these light bulbs governments around the world should be insisting that manufacturers produce light bulbs that are electromagnetically clean and contain no toxic chemicals. — Dr Magda Havas, an expert of EMF radiation, www.weepinitiative.org/LINKEDDOCS/scientific/08_Havas_CFL_SCENIHR.pdf

Last but not least, CFLS produce dirty electricity in your whole-house circuits. Just like LED bulbs, the circuits are not equipped to handle the demand of CFLs, which leads to dirty electricity. This dirty electricity builds up in the wiring of our home flooding it with EMF radiation.

Many people still purchase CFL bulbs for the same reason of energy efficiency and cost. CFL bulbs can provide the same amount of lumens as incandescent light bulbs, using about one quarter of the energy.

incandescent light bulb

To appreciate the difference in lighting, let’s go back to understand what was traditionally used.

60-watt incandescent light bulb is one of the most widely used types of light bulbs by consumers, representing approximately 50% of the domestic incandescent light bulb market.

Although incandescents may not be the most energy-efficient, the safest available lightbulb is the traditional incandescent.

halogen light bulbs

A halogen light bulb is a type of incandescent lamp which uses a halogen gas in order to increase both light output and rated life. These are popular for its moderately high efficiency, quality of light, and high rated life compared to regular incandescent lamps.

How Can You choose the safest light bulb?

Light bulbs are not as innocuous as you might think.

If you have to be indoors and needing light, you don’t want to remain the in dark and shun all lighting sources, including light bulbs, because that can have physical and emotional consequences too.

So what are your options? Try this quick checklist to choose the safest and best light bulb you can and minimize the damaging effects of bad lighting:

• Buy and use traditional incandescent or halogen bulbs. These use traditional heat source to produce a natural warm glow of light.

• If you choose LEDs, choose a warmer-coloured LED bulb. LED-makers are realising the health impacts of too-blue LEDs and racing to come up with warmer-looking alternatives.

• If you have LEDs at home, install them in low-traffic zones. This means you reduce your exposure to toxic LED light, such as walkways, instead of overhead in bedrooms or where you work.

• In high-traffic zones and for light-sensitive tasks (such as sleep), use incandescent or halogen light bulbs. They may not be the most energy efficient, but they will help to reduce the amount of EMF radiation emitted in the spaces that you occupy.     

• Try "blue blocker" or blue-light filtering glasses, but don’t settle for cheap knock offs. TheraSpecs are a great brand, particularly if you already have migraine or another light-sensitive condition.

• Use "night mode" or similar apps that are native settings on your phone and your computer. This can warm the lighting on your device and make it easier on the eyes.

• Turn your phone or computer off at least 2-3 hours before you go to bed.

• Change your light bulbs to warmer tones and colors. Opt for more natural light if possible and avoid/remove fluorescents, if appropriate.

• Give your eyes a break. Look away from your screen at least once every 20 minutes to let your eyes reset. And don’t forget to blink!

• If you must work under an LED, position your desk so that you are next to an open window (at least a crack) and your body can receive full-spectrum light energy. And you can take eye breaks looking out an open window. This is a building biology hack!

References:

1. https://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/04/philips-wins-prestigious-department-of-energy-l-prize/

2. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/110803-philips-led-light-bulb-wins-l-prize

3. Tiny defects in CFL light bulbs can let through UV light that can damage skin cells and lead to cancer. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-1097.2012.01192.x
   

Study Shows Bright Light at Night May Raise Type 2 Diabetes Risk

The glow of a lightbulb or smartphone at night can mess with the body's circadian rhythm. Even exposure to artificial light at night, whether it be yellow light from your reading lamp or blue light from your smartphone or TV, can make it harder to fall asleep.

Now, a new study suggests that exposure to artificial light after midnight may raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

the study

research was conducted among nearly 85,000 people, between the ages of 40 and 69, who wore devices on their wrists, day and night for one week, to track their exposure to different levels of light.

The health of the cohort was tracked for as long as nine years.

Those volunteers who later went on to develop type 2 diabetes were more likely to have been exposed to light between 12:30 am and 6:00 am, during the week-long study period.

study conclusions

While this study cannot prove the cause-effect connection, they do reveal a relationship between brighter light in the middle of the night and the risk of a metabolic disorder.

Those participants in the top 10 percent for light exposure at night had as much as a 67 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those in the bottom 50th percentile.

the researchers conclude:

“Advising people to avoid night light is a simple and cost-effective recommendation that may ease the global health burden of type 2 diabetes.”

One major limitation of the study is that researchers were not able to take into account meal times, which can have an impact on both circadian rhythms and glucose tolerance.

Interestingly, light at night itself can trigger insulin resistance, as another study found. Another experiment suggest that when melatonin is disrupted and the circadian rhythm is thrown out of whack, it can lead to the pancreas secreting less insulin. This could be a contributing factor to the development of diabetes. So those two other factors are also linked.

References:

1. The study was published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(24)00110-8/fulltext

Is your light environment good for you? Are you sensitive to blue light? Are you suffering from “blue light toxicity” at home or at work? Get in touch to upgrade your light at home.

Blue Light Causes Precocious Puberty

A study from Turkey found a direct relationship between blue light exposure and early puberty.

Blue light from LEDs has been linked to precocious puberty. Blue light from electronic devices could contribute to precocious puberty. Whereas previously, humans were mostly exposed to blue light from the sun, these days, we receive blue light exposure at night from our various electronic devices.

This exposure might inhibit the production of melatonin, which could then lead to precocious puberty.

This article highlights it as one of the factors for increased reports of precocious puberty during the lockdowns for the pandemic.

The study

To examine if the rise in reports of precocious puberty has links to the elevated use of blue light emitting devices during the period, researchers from Ankara Bilkent City Hospital and Gazi University in Turkey analyzed the effect of blue light exposure on the testicular tissue of young male rats.

In the study, published in the Frontiers in Endocrinology journal, researchers examined 18 female mice after dividing them into three equal groups:

1. a control group,

2. a group with exposure to blue light for six hours,

3. and a group with blue light exposure for 12 hours.

Blue light triggered signs of early onset puberty

The researchers found these biological changes: reduced melatonin levels, elevated reproductive hormones (estradiol and luteinizing hormone) and physical changes in the ovarian tissues of the rats exposed to blue light, indicating an early onset of puberty.

Those rats exposed to blue light for 12 hours showed signs of cell damage and inflammation in their ovaries.

This study adds to the researchers’ previous work on female rats, which also showed similar effects.

Blue light kills melatonin levels

A study presented on September 16 at the 60th Annual European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting found exposure to blue light to be associated with decreased levels of melatonin, increased levels of two major reproductive hormones (estradiol and luteinizing hormone), and changes in ovarian tissue that may be indicative of early onset of puberty in females.

In fact, changes occurred even after just six hours of exposure to blue light, which is really not that long. How many of us sit inside LED-lit offices and schools for hours daily?

What is blue light?

Blue light has the shortest wavelength and highest energy in the light spectrum. The strong energy of blue light is what allows it to pass easily through the cornea and lens of our eyes.

Blue light, especially the higher energy visible light from digital devices, has been increasingly recognised as hazardous over the past decade.

While some blue light exposure is inevitable with digital lifestyles, research is growing to show how it is harming our health, from damage to the eyes and disruption to healthy circadian rhythms and hormones.

How blue light affects our biological processes is becoming an increasingly important health issue as humans are exposed to more blue-enriched LED illumination for most of the day, or even at night due to shift work and light pollution in large cities.

Did the pandemic accelerate precocious puberty?

During the pandemic, rates of precocious puberty increased in many countries, sometimes by three-fold. Researchers identified possible reasons for the phenomenon, including sedentary indoor lifestyles.[3]

References

https://www.medicaldaily.com/exposure-blue-light-smartphones-tablets-may-trigger-early-onset-puberty-470876

[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-modern-heart/202311/9-ways-the-pandemic-may-have-led-to-precocious-puberty

Study: Early life circadian rhythm disruption in mice alters brain and behavior in adulthood

Health begins with the light you live in. The AM light is a powerful opportunity to reset your circadian rhythms, that govern all of your body’s biological processes.

This is especially crucial during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, when development is at a sensitive stage.

Anyone can tell you it is also a stage when time flies and space just seems a perpetual chaos!

The study

Beginning on the day of birth, female mice and their litters were exposed to either a regular light-dark cycle or a disrupting light-dark cycle where dark onset was brought forward by 8 hours every second day.

Early circadian rhythm disturbances on adult spatial learning, working memory, and anxiety

The 12 mice were assessed using the Elevated Plus Maze. The disrupted animals had significantly less entries into the open arms than did the undisrupted control group. In other words, the diminished exploratory behavior is consistent with higher anxiety-like behavior in the disrupted animals.

Also, the disrupted animals spent significantly less time in the exposed arms (8.1 ± 11.0 s) compared to the controls.

The same mice were then assessed using Morris Water Maze. The disrupted animals took significantly more time to reach the platform compared to controls.

The researchers also examined neuronal complexity in the areas of the brain hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and amygdala, respectively.

Circadian disruption during the last trimester and extending to the preschool years

The first 3 weeks postnatal in mice are comparable to a relatively wide developmental period in humans.

Postnatal days 1–10 exhibit developmental stages that correspond to the last trimester of pregnancy in humans, while brain development events in mice at postnatal days 20–21 are roughly equivalent to human brain development events observed at 2–3 years of age in children50.

This suggests that circadian disruption during the last trimester and extending to the preschool years could still have an impact on brain development. Indeed, poor sleep at 2 years of age is associated with less gray matter at 7 years of age14.

Additionally, poor sleep at 6–12 months of age17, or at 2 years of age18,19 were both predictive of delayed social-emotional development in children.

Why this is important for every mother and child

This study adds to the growing body of research we know about how circadian rhythms, including uneven sleep patterns, can affect health.

Other studies find similar effects in hyperactivity and increased anxiety.

Aside from socioeconomic status and other environmental stressors, one area that is consistently adversely impacted in these cases is the quality of sleep.

While in utero disruption led to more severe impairments in adulthood, significant deficits were still observed when circadian disruption was restricted to the postnatal period, such as was observed in the mouse study.

Infancy and childhood are critical periods for the growth and development of brain and behaviour. Adversity during this period can have profound implications for how the child develops, leading to deficits later in life such as increase rates of psychopathology.

If you are doing shift work, this could impact the circadian health of the child as well.

Sleep is a premium for any mom during pregnancy and in the precious post partum months with a newborn. Prioritising a regular, quality sleep routine is a crucial part of ensuring a healthy baby and his or her brain development, with implications far beyond just what we think we would observe.

Link to study: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11335-0

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Easy ways to enliven a space: Practical ideas from IKEA

Life can be hectic, and your interior space should be a sanctuary providing a calm environment so that you can rest, recharge and be ready to do what you need to do. Whether it is a work space, bedroom, or a play area for children, an indoor space should prioritise elements that can help one renew and recharge, instead of depleting or distracting you. 

Building Biology principles guide how we can make healthy interior spaces. This article highlights principles from Building Biology that you can apply easily to help enliven a space. I also share examples from IKEA that show how this can be in very easy and practical ways.

Being a mother, I love my strolls with the children, and I also love my indoor strolls through IKEA (or any interior-ware store). Their many room ideas are great for inspiration.

Why choose a calm environment? 

Calm isn’t a trend or a style. Any design can be calming, and any design, done badly, can be chaotic instead. 

Common factors of calm spaces may be material and visual. They share these common principles that are important for biological health:

(1) Balanced natural light and illumination

(2) Access to a view and/or perspective free of pollutants, with access to fresh natural elements

(3) Similarly, a connection to Nature, with access to fresh air, sunshine, and nature

(4) Natural and unadulterated furnishings and materials

Part of a calm environment is knowing your items and furniture are working to help you create, instead of taking up space. Another reason why IKEA is popular is how they try to have their products pull double-duty and be highly functional.

IKEA products are usually well-made, so you add a sense of proportion and order to your space, if placed well. Here are some options so easily found at the nearest IKEA for calm, enlivening space.

Plants 

The easiest way to enliven a space to include Nature or parts of it directly, in appropriate areas.

We are a part of Nature, and proximity to friendly plants help improve concentration and creativity. Plants are a natural option to calm and enliven a space as they are living things that offer air exchange, trap dust and toxins, and release oxygen into the air. If you are unsure of a green thumb, try plants that are low maintenance such as snake plants or money plants that do not add too much to an already humid environment (like ours in the tropics). Or cut flowers, stems help add connection to Nature. 

Natural materials, such as seagrass 

Natural materials can seem like a cliche or an obvious choice. But not considering its impact (whether it can be a focal point in a space) is a common mistake, as a lack of natural material, even if only perceived, can be uncomfortable to the body for extended periods.

Elements that are representative of Nature also help breathe a sense of fresh air into a space. Materials such as seagrass, wood, and ceramic add an organic feel. The natural roundness and soft textures in seagrass help balance the hard lines and flat surfaces that often make up indoor spaces. 

Seagrass also evokes the senses of touch and smell, that is calming to our nervous system. 

IKEA has had stunning ranges on seagrass the last few seasons. This is a plant growing naturally in South-East Asian coastal areas, so I’m always excited to see how IKEA re-imagines the simple material in various ways for different functions. 

Lighting 

Calm lighting is also crucial for enjoying a calm space. Ideally, you have full-spectrum natural lightning from the Sun, rather than relying on artificial light even during daylight hours. This ensures basic health, and that your circadian rhythm can be in sync with natural day-night cycles, which is crucial for optimal performance and wellbeing.

Lighting affects our circadian rhythm, which governs every function in our body. LED lighting is probably the most problematic thing indoors in recent years. LEDs are extremely problematic sources of light indoors, as their light is distorted . You want your light indoors to work with your circadian rhythm, not against it.

You want to choose lighting very carefully. IKEA only sells LED lights, so if we do buy those, select its placement and daily use thoughtfully. It pays off in in alertness, jet lag, performance (especially if you are an athlete or a shift worker), twilight, seasonality, skin response, photoreception, and more.

At the least, I would not choose open-style bulbs. Lampshades help diffuse the glare and flicker. The Molnart bulb from IKEA tries to augment this in a warmer LED and double smoke-colored glass. From their website:

This LED light bulb spreads the same warm light as a traditional 14W light bulb – without flickering or emitting any sound. This particular light bulb emits the same warm glow as candlelight (1,800 Kelvin).

Your view of the outdoors

The view you have is another essential consideration for a calm space.

A view of the outdoors offer a perspective to Nature, or the world at large. The broader range and distance are very calming for the eyes, and help avoid myopia.

Window curtains in 100% natural materials allow this light to filter into a room while reducing harsh tropical heat. The all- linen or cotton options from IKEA are a beautiful way to frame your view of the outdoors. 

A last thing...Decluttering (and Organising) 

Finally, good storage is an important component of any calm space.

This is probably what drives many to a store like IKEA in the first place—the relentless search to finally have an organised space. IKEA has chock loads of organisation options. And they don’t have to be plastic boxes! Their options in natural materials help add to a calm space, and dial down the internal clutter (pun intended) that can come through a space. Decluttering and organisation helps us remove items from a space that are past its use or not appropriate anymore. These include things that are degrading.

Decluttering helps clear out potential moldy items and dust collectors. Less discussed but perhaps even more important is that removing excess and worn-out items helps reduces stress and releases energy for other tasks instead.This is especially important for children and their developing brains. Your brain is continually filtering information from its environment. More about tidying in another post...