Today, LED lamps have almost replaced other types of lighting fixtures. This is due to the many advantages of such illuminators. However, among the inhabitants there is an opinion that such devices can be harmful to humans. To understand this issue, you need to understand how such lighting devices work, what features they have. Whether LED lamps are harmful to human he alth will be discussed later.
LED lamp device
LED lamps for home with E27 base are today considered one of the most popular household lighting fixtures. A lot of positive characteristics allowed this device to displace even the so-called housekeepers. The latter have mercury vapor in the flask. If its integrity is violated, a person runs the risk of severe poisoning. Therefore, such light bulbs are gradually ceasing to be used inhousehold purposes.
In 2013 there was news that LED light bulbs, which at that time began to be bought more often than other types of electrical appliances, are harmful to human vision. This statement presented the results of a study by Spanish scientists. To understand what kind of danger we are talking about, you need to carefully consider the device and the principle of operation of a 220-volt LED lamp.
This electrical appliance consists of several mandatory elements:
- Diffuser. It is a hemisphere, which is most often made of matte plastic.
- Chips. These are the main structural elements that emit light.
- Aluminum circuit board. It is located on heat-conducting paste. It effectively removes heat from the chips, transferring it to the heatsink. This allows you to provide optimal thermal conditions for the operation of LED chips.
- Radiator. Made of aluminum (anodized alloy). Provides high-quality heat dissipation from structural elements.
- Driver. It has a circuit of a galvanically isolated pulse-width modulator. Designed to stabilize the electric current, which can be observed during voltage drops.
- The base of the plinth. It is made of a polymer material that reliably protects the body from electric shock.
- Plinth - Made of nickel plated brass. Provides reliable contact with the cartridge. The presence of sputtering prevents the developmentcorrosion.
It is worth noting that the lamp bulb is not sealed, as it is not filled with a special gas. According to the amount of toxic or harmful substances, LED lamps can be classified in the same category as most electrical devices that are not designed with batteries.
Features of white light
Considering the features of LED lamps for the home with an E27 base, you need to pay attention to the quality of the luminous flux. Unlike other lighting fixtures, here the color temperature can vary markedly. It can be neutral, cold or warm. The higher this indicator, the more intense the radiation in the blue spectrum.
The retina of the human eye is most sensitive to blue. With prolonged exposure to such light, cells begin to degrade. Especially harmful is the white light of the cold spectrum for the eyes of children. This has been confirmed by numerous studies. In babies, the retina is in the process of development. When exposed to the rays of the blue spectrum, it is irritated and improperly formed.
Studying the effect of LED lamps on vision, scientists came to the conclusion that when using more than two lighting devices of this type, it is necessary to install several additional incandescent lamps in the chandelier. Their power should not be high, 40-60 watts is enough. You can also supplement such lighting with LED lamps of a warm glow spectrum.
But it is worth noting that the use of LEDlamps that do not have a high pulsation coefficient are approved for domestic use by the Ministry of He alth of the Russian Federation. Such lighting fixtures do no harm. To choose the right lighting fixture, you need to pay attention to the temperature of the glow. This indicator is indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging. The temperature of the glow of lamps that are recognized as safe should be in the range from 2700 to 3200 K. For the home, you need to purchase lamps of warm glow shades, as they are most similar to natural sunlight.
Blue light beam
In search of an answer to the question of whether LED lamps are harmful, it is worth noting one nuance. Blue light is really harmful to the he alth of the retina. But for this, its impact must be long and frequent. It is worth noting that studies that confirmed the harm of such light radiation were carried out in conditions of strong illumination. The entire spectrum of radiation was in the range unsafe for the retina.
In cold white LEDs, the proportion of the blue component is present. But it is also present in sunlight. Moreover, in terms of the number of such radiations, natural lighting is not inferior to artificial.
A person in the modern world spends a lot of time in front of a computer, smartphone or TV. Such devices cause much more harm than LED lamps with a cold white glow. It is especially harmful to focus on the screen at a distance of less than 1 meter.
Ripple
Studying whether LED lamps are harmful toeye he alth, it is worth paying attention to such an aspect of their work as pulsation. This quality is inherent in almost any source of artificial lighting. Flicker is an unsafe factor, which has long been proven by scientists.
The nervous system is negatively affected by flicker in the range of 8-300 Hz. Moreover, it can be both visible and invisible pulsations. Waves that emit electrical appliances, affecting the organs of vision, the brain. This contributes to the deterioration of he alth in general. LED lamps are no exception. But in this case, the impact on the human body is minimal.
The harm of LED lamps can be reduced to a minimum if the system is supplemented with a high-quality filter. It is installed on the voltage driver. This allows you to save the electrical device from the variable component. The ripple value in this case does not exceed 1%.
The pulsation coefficient, which is permissible according to sanitary standards, should not exceed 10%. To do this, even in the most inexpensive light bulbs, a switching power supply is built in. But high-quality filtering can only be achieved when using a high quality voltage driver. The cost of the lamp in this case cannot be low. Such lighting fixtures are produced by well-known manufacturers. In this case, it is not forbidden to install LED lamps in the children's room.
Melatonin secretion
Studying the dangers of LED lamps, one may come across the statement that they suppress the production of the hormone melatonin. It is responsible for regulating the circadian rhythm and the frequency of sleep. WithAt nightfall, the concentration of the hormone melatonin in a he althy body increases. It makes you feel sleepy.
Working at night, a person knocks down his biorhythms. His body is exposed to various adverse factors, including lighting. In the course of the studies, it was found that LED rays adversely affect vision at night. It's too bright.
Therefore, after dark, you should avoid the bright light that LED lamps emit. This is especially true of the bedroom, children's room. At nightfall, the light emitted by LED lamps must be dimmed.
The effect of reducing the production of melatonin can be observed if you watch TV or a monitor that has LED backlight for a long time. If such an impact is systematic, a person may develop insomnia. This is the harm of LED lamps, which can be prevented by including a dimmer in the electrical circuit. With the onset of darkness, with this device, you can reduce the intensity of the glow by dimming the light.
It should also be understood that melatonin is also responsible for neutralizing oxidative processes. This leads to slower aging. If melatonin is not produced in sufficient quantities, this leads to premature aging and other negative consequences.
Standardization
LED ceiling and table lamps are manufactured in accordance with established standards. It is worth noting thatthere is no single regulatory documentation for all lighting fixtures of this type. This area of industrial production is still developing. There are new pluses and minuses here.
Standardization of LED lighting products is part of the current regulations. They regulate the normal impact on a person's vision, in which his he alth will not be disturbed. For example, GOST R IEC 62471-13 describes the methods and conditions for measuring the lighting parameters of all lamps, including LED-type devices. There are formulas used to calculate the maximum allowable values for hazardous exposure.
The presented standard states that all lighting devices that emit a continuous light wave are assigned to one of 4 hazard groups. The determination of whether a lamp belongs to a particular category is carried out experimentally. For this, ultraviolet and infrared rays are also measured, which can be dangerous to the eye. The intensity of exposure to blue light, the thermal effect that the lighting device emits, is also determined. These effects can adversely affect the he alth of the retina.
SP 52.13330.2011 establishes requirements for LED ceiling lamps, as well as other lighting fixtures. It says here that the parameters of the light flux emitted by such devices should not go beyond the permissible limits. This standard specifies that colorthe temperature must be between 2400 and 6800 K. The maximum allowable UV radiation is 0.03 W/m². A lot of other coefficients and indicators are also normalized by this standard.
Infrared and ultraviolet range
Many buyers are wondering if LED lamps are harmful to eyesight. To conclude that it is advisable to purchase such a lighting device, one more aspect needs to be considered.
It is worth noting that you can get a white lamp glow using two methods. In the first case, 3 crystals are combined in one case - blue, green and red. The wave does not go beyond the visible spectrum. Therefore, such a lamp cannot generate light in the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum.
The second method involves obtaining a white spectrum of light by using a blue LED. A special phosphor is applied to its surface. It forms a stream of rays in which yellow color predominates. By mixing blue and yellow shades of glow, different shades of white glow are obtained.
Even with this technology, the presence of ultraviolet rays is negligible. They cannot harm your eyesight. Infrared radiation is slightly higher, but it does not exceed 15%. This indicator is disproportionately less than that of an incandescent lamp.
Electromagnetic radiation
The question of whether there is harm from LED lamps should be considered from another point of view. Some people claim that the presented electrical appliances emit a largeamount of electromagnetic radiation.
The design includes a high-frequency module. This driver is the most powerful source of electromagnetic radiation in the LED lamp. The high-frequency pulses that the device produces can even affect the operation of radio transmitters, Wi-Fi devices, if they are located in close proximity to such equipment.
But it is worth remembering that although the electromagnetic radiation of LED lamps is high, it is practically safe for human he alth. Its level is several orders of magnitude lower than that of a Wi-Fi router, smartphone or microwave oven.
Chinese light bulbs
Are LED lamps of little-known manufacturers harmful? The fact is that, due to its design, a high-quality lighting device cannot be cheap. Therefore, Chinese products, which have a low cost, cannot meet the established standards.
The danger of using such LED lamps is the use of low-quality parts. So, lamps that cost less than 250 rubles. per piece have a low-quality voltage converter in the design. Instead of a full-fledged driver, a transformerless power supply is installed in such a device. It has a polar capacitor, which neutralizes the variable component.
This part has a small capacity, so it can only partially cope with its function. Because of this, the ripple factor can reach 60%. This negatively affectsvision and general well-being. Therefore, you should not buy cheap Chinese products. It can be really harmful to humans.
Expert Opinion
So, are LED bulbs harmful? Experts say that the negative impact of the presented lighting fixtures is greatly exaggerated. To avoid negative consequences for vision, you need to choose high-quality light bulbs that are produced by well-known companies. You also need to dim the lights at night. In this case, there will be no harm from using such lighting fixtures.
