Just as we are switching to energy-conserving lighting, along comes a scientist to rain on the parade. See http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4739766/Low-energy-LED-lightbulbs-giving-HEADACHES.html.
University of Essex (England) professor of psychology Arnold Wilkins says that light-emitting diode (LED) lights and compact fluorescent lights, energy-saving devices in vogue, have a “flicker rate” much greater than traditional lightbulbs. Professor Wilkins adds that this greater flicker rate is associated with headaches.
For comparison purposes, Wilkins says that traditional florescent lighting, which flickers at 100 times per second, is associated with doubling the risk of headaches for those who work in an area using such lighting. Since LED’s flicker at the rate of 400 times a second, or four times more often than traditional fluorescents, he thinks the headache risk of LED’s is much worse.
If Professor Wilkins is correct (and there are those that disagree), then we may find a giant obstacle to the mandated universal adoption of LED (and perhaps other energy-saving devices). It’s hard to feel good about saving energy and money when you have a headache.
Originally posed in my column in the Valley News Group of papers.
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