Because electricity bills continue to rise, many households and small to large sized companies switch to using compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) or commonly referred to energy-saving lamps as main lighting source. But recently a team of researchers from the U.S. found that CFL is at risk of causing skin damage.
Team of researchers from Stony Brook University in New York found that energy-saving lamps emit ultraviolet radiation (UV) is very high. In fact, UV radiation can cause damage to skin cells and at high levels of exposure can cause cancer.
To prove it, the team exposes human skin cells with light of energy-saving lamps and compared with ordinary incandescent light effects on cells of the same skin.
After analysis shows that skin cells exposed CFL suffered significant damage. "The results show that these lights can actually lead to cell death," said researcher Marcia Simon, who is also professor of dermatology from Stony Brook University, as quoted by LiveScience, Sunday (01/06/2013). While the skin cells are exposed to ordinary light, no damage to worry about.
Even researchers believe that a small crack in the wrapper layer in the CFL bulb was responsible for the leaking of UV radiation on human skin and thus damage the network.
Moreover, according to researchers CFL bulbs also contain a number of toxic materials such as mercury are known to cause neurological damage, birth defects and other health risks.
In response to this study, the manufacturer of CFL bulbs revealed that the level of radiation emitted by the lamp is still relatively low so that the CFL bulbs are safe to use for daily purposes.
Even so with the study, consumers were asked to choose more wisely longer illumination source that is friendly to health. Not only consider energy efficiency, long lasting or low electric bills alone.
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