Effects of Flourecent Lighting

Fluorescent lighting is used in home, work and schooling environments. Many environmentalist groups advocate the use of compact fluorescent light bulbs, claiming that compact fluorescent bulbs are more effective and last longer than incandescent light bulbs. Fluorescent lighting may have negative health effects due to high levels of mercury and radio frequencies emitted by the bulbs.

Mercury Poisioning

• Mercury is a neurotoxin that poses significant health risks when a person is exposed to the chemical. In the event that a fluorescent bulb breaks, exposure rates to mercury may cause mercury poisoning. Symptoms of mercury poisoning include dizziness, cloudy urine, nausea and skin rash.

Malignant Melanoma

• A study in The Lancet indicates that exposure to fluorescent lighting on a consistent basis doubles the risk of developing malignant melanoma. This risk goes up with higher rates of exposure, and women are more likely to develop melanoma when exposed to fluorescent lighting in the workplace, as opposed to those who worked indoors but not in an environment with fluorescent lighting.

Muscle Strength

• Some fluorescent lights emit radio frequencies in the Megahurtz (MHz) range. According to Commander Russell M. Jaffe, a senior staff physician at the United States National Institute of Health, fluorescent lights that emit radio frequencies in the 0.1 to 100 MHz range may have detrimental effects on muscle strength. Jaffe found that shielding the muscles from the fluorescent lighting restored both the tone and the strength of the affected muscles.