LED's and eye damage?

[Roy in TO]

I was attending a lecture today when an off topic item caught my attention. It seems that some LED's put out too much energy in the "blue" range that may be causing damage to our eyes. This might be why I prefer the warm white output.

I can't link you to the article cited by the speaker since it is a "payment required" but found one that brings light to the issue. Published by the Tennessee Dental Association.

A recent review article published in the Journal of the Tennessee Dental Association ‘The Possible Ocular Hazards of LED Dental Illumination Applications’ warns dentists about the potential ocular dangers when using LED illumination in their offices.

On edit: I had trouble viewing the article in my browser, found I had to download it by using the "save as" command to view it properly.

Here is another article:
http://www.lifesciencesite.com/lsj/l...01_477_482.pdf

[NEWFISHER]

I can tell you as a hobbyist in the Saltwater Aquarium world, LED's can harm your eyes! The "bluer" the light in the under sea world, the more magnificent the corals and fishes color patterns get. Those blue LED's are impossible to look at and imprint your vision for hours beyond what a MIG or TIG welder burn will accomplish. I use shields on all aquarium lighting and try to get away from spectrums above 4,000k at home.

[Filbert V.]

I think it comes down to common sense. Too much of anything is bad for you, and no matter what it is, we should limit our exposure to it, whether or not it be light or sun. If it bothers you, then stop doing whatever it is that's irritating a part of your body. Our bodies have a way of telling us when we have received too much of something, so listen to it! There are too may articles out there just to scare us into buying or not buying a particular item. Always two sides to every story, and as usual, "talk to your doctor". I think there's more danger in inhaling fiberglass and particle board fumes, but that's what are trailers are made out of!

[Joe MacDonald]

I have problems with the blue led Christmas lights, they really Bother my eyes, they make my eyes go blurry

Joe

[Borrego Dave]

Good info, I've been looking into changing mine out to LED's

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Filbert V.

I think it comes down to common sense. ... If it bothers you, then stop doing whatever it is that's irritating a part of your body. Our bodies have a way of telling us when we have received too much of something, so listen to it! There are too may articles out there just to scare us into buying or not buying a particular item.

Yes and no Filbert,

Sometimes irreversible cummulative changes happen long before the body tells us. Common sense cannot prevail in those situations.

There is a difference between articles, articles based on scientific literature and scientific literature. So let's break this down into common sense terms.

White light is a mixture of colours.

• White LED's produce a mixture of colours including some in the "blue" range. That may be by design because we perceive white light with more blue in it as whiter and brighter. That's what we think we want right? Usually yes, but it is wrong for health reasons.
• Research has shown that white LED's that produce certain measurable frequencies in the blue range can damage the eyes including accellerating macular degeneration (a common problem as we age)

Converting the science to common sense can be simplified. When purchasing LED's to light your trailer or home you will be safer if you choose the LED that produces less blue light. Compare both lights side by side under the same conditions, the one that has less of a blue cast or halo will be the safer choice.

They have banned household incandescant light bulbs locally, which means we have to go to LED's or CFL's as replacements. The CFL's contain mercury which we now know to be unsafe. (remember science class where the instructor rolled mercury around on a piece of paper?) Common sense says we should go LED. And now we should know go with the white LED that produces less blue.

We don't always know something is dangerous until it is too late. My first job involved asbestos and silica dust without a mask or respirator. We know now both of those can cause serious health problems many years later. Mesolitoma or Silicosis are more probable conditions in my future than for someone that was not exposed to these materials.

[Byron Kinnaman]

This article has some interesting information

The thing to remember is too much of anything can cause problems, including water.

[Terry R.]

I have never liked LED lights. They just seem bright at the source, then barely any light farther away.

I have a couple of night lights that are LED and they just seem harsh close to it, with very little other light transmitted into the room.

I think they seem cold.

[steve dunham]

Lighting is often chosen based on its application , The standard for the printing industry is 5000K because the color spectrum is balanced , Meat cases in grocery store use 3000 k to make meat look red , Clothing stores use a lamp that makes clothing colors look the same in and out of the store . Low pressure sodium lamps were used for street lighting because of their high lumen output per watt but unfortunately the light was in the wrong spectrum for the human eye . Many municipalities are changing both their street lighting and traffic signals to LED lamps for energy savings and reduced maintenance costs but not without encountering a whole new set of problems.
I am afraid that with the elimination of the incandescent lamp we are going to have problems finding lighting that gives us the same pleasing color affect . ANSI and NEMA are developing new lighting standards based on the use of solid state lighting . Progress never comes without some unforseen problems

[ruscal]

Color temperature does indeed play a part in eye comfort. The older I get the more susceptible I am to blue (cooler) lighting. Automobile headlights are an area where this is especially bothersome and dangerous. The newer cars are allowed by the powers that be to have extremely blue lighting output. The glare produced by such lights is really uncomfortable. When you have the light pointed away from you it is not as bad, but still can cause some eye fatigue from the blue spectrum. I have been using LED head band mounted lighting for camping and backpacking for many years, and have welcomed the advancement of the technology producing more light as the years went on. I discovered that there were cases when they produced too much light that caused eye strain. The dimming features built into the newer ones is really useful to adjust intensity for comfort. It is always good habit to turn off your headlamp when done with your task if there are others in your group, as the light is usually full cool spectrum and very painful to look at.
In my trailer I opted for the warm LEDs, and they have been very pleasant to use, and the efficiency is way better than incandescent. They are not as warm as incandescent though.
Russ

[Mike Magee]

LEDs are being produced in a variety of color temperatures. I have added a warm-white LED drop-in to a 4D Maglite, and it looks every bit as yellow as an old incandescent bulb. I have several LED flashlights and headlamps in the 3000K to 4000K range. Zebralight makes some nice ones that I really like. As for AC bulb replacements, the product life is still in its relative infancey and we will see much more variety in color temps and designs in another year or two.

[Donna D.]

Can't help it, I worry more about the blasted fluorescent lights all us office workers have been working under for years. Besides, there's always this!

[reeves99]

LOL. That's so true, Donna. Nature has a way of evening things out

[Andrew Gibbens]

As a kid, I had a (maiden) great aunt who was a genuine Victorian - she even had a curtain round the base of her piano, so male visitors would not be driven to uncontrollable lust by the sight of the piano's bare legs.

She though (incandescent) electric light was modern, vulgar and did terrible damage to your eyes, coming on instantly so brightly, instead of fading up slowly like 'natural' gas lighting.

There really ain't nuthin' new, 'specially when it's older folks complaining about how the world had gone sky west and crooked in a basket.

[fusedlight]

I've just a cursory reading from the Google search on "LED Eye Damage" and what I'm seeing is that it's not the light per-se that causes issues but HOW that light is hitting the eye. A concentrated beam close up to an LED can cause damage. A diffuse beam...not so much.

Now I ruminate: Light is light is light is light. A photon popping out of an LED lamp with a wavelength of 600 nm is going to be the same as one popping out of the sun at the same wavelength. If an eye is hit by a tight beam, is close to the lamp... doesn't matter WHAT that beam came from.

[John Linck]

Originally Posted by fusedlight

Now I ruminate: Light is light is light is light. A photon popping out of an LED lamp with a wavelength of 600 nm is going to be the same as one popping out of the sun at the same wavelength. If an eye is hit by a tight beam, is close to the lamp... doesn't matter WHAT that beam came from.

Of course you are right Gary. Mom always said, "Don't look directly into the sun". Too many energetic photons can hurt, especially when packed into a photon torpedo. Always avoid those and keep your shields up.

Live long and prosper.

Love my LED's, John

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Filbert V.

Too much of anything is bad for you...

Well, not everything.