The state of California is discussing banning incandescent bulbs. I think this letter from a fellow patient who is terribly affected by fluorescents says it all:
<<Hello all
My good friend and fellow founder of the north London ME Network, Evelyne
Muller, has as part of her ME extreme sensitivity to fluorescent light (as
well as being unable to use computers for similar reasons). She spotted an
article in the Guardian newspaper regarding a proposal to ban ordinary
(incandescent) bulbs and force us all to use long-life (fluorescent) bulbs in
the interest of the environment. She dashed off a letter to the Guardian -
I've pasted it below. It seems like we may have to get a campaign going on
this issue and we need to collect information about how many people could have
their lives even more limited by a potential ban on ordinary bulbs. If you are
affected by fluorescent lighting, even if only slightly, please let us know by
contacting Evelyne via the following email JanWhitmore@uwclub.net
Julia Cameron
----- Original Message -----
From: Jan Whitmore
To: letters@guardian.co.uk
Sent: 22 February 2007 21:24
Subject: "Should we ban these bulbs?" Article, G2 dated 22.2.07
Dear Editor
The issues raised by the question on your front page (February 22nd) - "If
Australia can ban these, why can't we?" - next to a picture of an incandescent
light bulb, concerns me deeply. Fluorescent energy-saving bulbs can trigger a
whole array of horrendous symptoms, particularly amongst people with
neurological disorders.
I am equally as concerned to reduce the O2 emissions as those who propose the
ban. I have been a green and ethical consumer for over twenty years, have had
solar panels on my house for five years and am a long-standing member of
Friends of the Earth. However, choice in light bulbs is essential because,
just like food and medicines which we ingest, taking in different qualities of
light affects us differently as individuals and can cause damaging side
effects. My own intolerance to fluorescent lighting developed after a bad
bout of glandular fever twenty-eight years ago, which damaged my inner ear,
caused visual and neurological impairment, and left me weak enough to have to
use a wheelchair for three years. I was diagnosed with ME. Too much exposure
to fluorescent lighting has caused me numerous relapses and other people I
have met with ME, MS, epilepsy, migraine, and simply sensitivity, also suffer
varying degrees of unwellness from energy-saving light bulbs.
Your reporter, Les Hickman in G2 (February 22 - "Should we ban these bulbs?"),
seems unaware of these health issues - as I am sure most people are, who are
not affected by them. There is, however, already some research in the public
domain, even relating fluorescents to conditions mimicing dyslexia in young
children. Much more research is necessary, particularly to produce
energy-saving bulbs that do not cause these distressing symptoms.
I say to those who want to ban the bulb that I admire your determined stance
to help our ailing planet, but please listen. If I was sitting under
energy-saving light bulbs now, I could not write this letter. I would
experience dizziness, visual and mental disorientation, pains in muscles,
swollen joints and increasing weakness from which it can take months and years
to recover. Last year the first death from ME was recorded by the Coroner
for England and Wales. This is a serious issue - and I wonder how others are
affected with less robust nervous symptoms, babies, for example. In our zeal
to help the environment we must not blunt our humanity and go for the quick
fix, however attractive. We share life on this beautiful planet and need to
listen and learn from one another.
Education about energy efficiency and removal of financial barriers are
vital, but a ban by those who cannot appreciate how lighting affects the more
sensitive among us will be inhumane, making some of us prisoners in our
candle-lit houses.
Yours sincerely
Evelyne Muller,
c/o JanWhitmore@uwclub.net >>
Personally, I have some problems with fluorescents, nowhere near as bad as Evelyne's, but I still wouldn't want to deal with them. If California bans incandescents, I'll bring them back from Nevada by the case rather than subject myself to the exacerbation of symptoms caused by fluorescents.
Although the manufacturers tell you that they have fixed some of the things people complained about in first-generation CFLs, the people whose health is affected by fluorescents say that they have not fixed the problems that cause the health issues.
4 comments:
Great post!
Sadly I live here in Califronia and suffer from Lupus and epilepsy.
What "good" may come of this, is horrible for others, I wish Arnold (our Gov) would take that into consideration.
Thanks for this post,
Kathy
http://www.LupusMCTD.com
Thanks, Kathy.
I've also heard from several people who deal with autistic children that the hum and flicker of fluorescents badly affect them, too.
There are too many health problems that are made worse by fluorescents, and I, for one, refuse to let the government force me to be more disabled than I already am.
I am writing in response to your call for others who suffer from the effects of fluorescent lights. My name is Julie, I live in Sacramento, California. I have been ill with ME for just over 20 years. I do not know when I first noticed that fluorescent lights tired me out, but it is pretty profound and has been a constant of the illness. If I am having a fairly "good" day, I can end it pretty quickly by spending more than half an hour in a room lit by fluorescent lights. I last a bit longer if I wear a baseball-type cap, but after an hour I begin to lose the ability to construct coherent sentences, I start having that kind of fatigue that makes the floor, or someone's desktop, look like a perfectly delightful place lay down on -- except that I also begin to feel a desperate desire to leave whatever is going on, even if it was something very important to me.
I retest this effect fairly often, because I have the kind of memory-confusion that I can try to explain to a well person, but they doubt my explanation. I will often forget that flourescents effect me such that I will begin to feel extreme fatigue at some function beyond what I would expect, and/or I start feeling confused and anxious, and I stop being able to talk or listen to what's going on, or I begin to feel a strong desire to leave some event that I've gone to a deal of trouble to get to - only to later realize "oh, yeah, of course - those are/were fluorescent lights," - I'd forgotten to think about it. So, it's not a matter of expecting that effect but of seeing it over and over through the years.
It affects me at my doctor's office, the dentist, the post office and library - places where I wish to or must spend time, but there are often alternatives I can arrange. If incandescent bulbs are outlawed, I would try to hoard a lifetime supply of contraband lightbulbs, and would otherwise be confined to sun-lit places only!
You are "right on" regarding CFL issues. I survived a brain stem injury with the loss of vestibular functioning. Neuro-Optometric rehab has allowed me to again walk without a walking stick.
However, some element of the CFL robs me of my ability to function with my newly-learned Neuro-Optometric skills compensating for the loss of my vestibular system.
Recently, we were staying in a motel which had CFL’s in the hallways. Prior to making a reservation, I contacted the facility, to ascertain the status of CFL’s in their rooms, etc. They assured me that they had no CFL’s. Upon check-in, we noticed that CFL’s were in recessed (can-type) fixtures in the hallways.
The next morning, I walked on the treadmill, in the exercise room at my usual quick-walk pace. After about 15 – 20 minutes I began to feel nauseous. I slowed down and stopped the treadmill. As I stepped off the treadmill, to my right, I fell against a wall which was about two feet to my right.
I fell against the wall with my left hand, striking my left shoulder, and my head – however did remain in a standing position.
Attempting to sort out the cause of the incident, I noticed that the treadmill faced a mirrored wall, with a full length window-wall behind me. The window-wall was open to the hallway, which was lit by CFL’s. So, walking on the treadmill, apparently I was getting some CFL light reflected by the mirrors in front of the treadmill.
By the next day, I began to feel tightening in my neck and shoulders. Now, 1+ week later, the pain is virtually debilitating, even with Vicodin. I'm now on Flexeril, a muscle relaxer.
This is my third encounter with CFL's -- all with disastrous results. To make matters worse, Canada, our neighbor to the North, has outlawed incandescent bulbs effective in 2012. And folks are switching over right now.
It seems that given the
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