Let’s be clear: this is just one study
(13WMAZ) Florida residents are accustomed to hearing about skin cancer risks from the sun. Less familiar? Risks from light bulbs.
But fluorescent light bulbs do contain significant levels of ultraviolet radiation – the main skin cancer risk factor. And a 2012 study by researchers at Stony Brook University in New York found that close, prolonged exposure to compact fluorescent bulbs “exacerbated skin conditions,” including skin cancer.
Fluorescent bulbs aren’t new – most office buildings in America use the familiar long, flickering rods. What is relatively new is the arrival of the curlicue-shaped compact fluorescent bulbs. As part of the federally mandatory phase out of incandescent light bulbs – contributors to greenhouse gasses and possibly climate change – compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) have become commonplace.
Jacksonville resident Gerie Leigh, an ardent environmentalist, was an early adopter of compact fluorescent bulbs, changing out every light in her house several years ago. But after six serious skin cancers in three years, and four just since last May – she’s changed them all again, this time to LED lights. (snip)
Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, who conducted the study at Stony Brook, could not comment directly on Leigh’s concerns, but told First Coast News that she believes there are concerns with prolonged exposure to CFLs. “What we found was that these bulbs would emit radiation where if you were exposed to them you got your daily dose not in eight hours, but in minutes,” she says. Her research found that cells exposed to close range compact fluorescent bulbs, “stopped growing and changed shape.” The cause appears to be cracking or deterioration of bulb’s protective white lining, which the study found could allow UVA and UVC to escape.
Good thing Los Federales mandated doing away with most standard light bulbs eh? Add this to the mercury issue, and that CFLs seem to be lasting around the same as old school light bulbs, and these are super fantastic replacements.
