Today, LED lamps have virtually replaced other types of lighting fixtures. This is due to the many advantages of such illuminators. However, among the townsfolk 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 health will be discussed later.
LED lamp device
LED home lamps with E27 base are today considered one of the most popular household lighting products. Many positive characteristics allowed this device to supplant 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 bulbs gradually cease to be used for domestic purposes.
In 2013, there was news that LED bulbs, which at that time began to be bought more often than other types of electrical appliances, are harmful to human vision. In this statement, the results of a study by Spanish scientists were presented. To understand what kind of danger is involved, you need to carefully consider the device and the principle of operation of the 220-volt LED lamp.
This appliance consists of several essential elements:
- Diffuser. It is a hemisphere, which is most often made of matte plastic.
- Chips These are the main structural elements that emit light.
- Printed circuit board made of aluminum. Located on a heat-conducting paste. It effectively removes heat from the chips, passing it to the heat sink. This allows you to provide optimal thermal conditions for the operation of LED chips.
- Radiator. Made of aluminum (anodized alloy). Provides high-quality heat removal from structural elements.
- Driver. It has a galvanically isolated pulse-width modulator circuit. Designed to stabilize the electric current, which can be observed with voltage drops.
- Basement base. It is made of a polymeric material that reliably protects the housing from penetration of electric current.
- Base - Made of nickel-plated brass. Provides reliable contact with the cartridge. The presence of spraying prevents the development of corrosion.
It is worth noting that the lamp bulb is not sealed, since it is not filled with special gas. By the number of toxic or harmful substances, LED lamps can be attributed to the same category as most electrical devices that are not designed for batteries.
Features of white light
Considering the features of LED lamps for the home with a base E27, you need to pay attention to the quality of the light flux. Unlike other lighting fixtures, the color temperature here 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, its irritation and improper formation occurs.
Studying the effect of LED lamps on vision, scientists came to the conclusion that when using more than two lighting devices of this type, you need to install several additional incandescent lamps in the chandelier. Their power should not be high, enough 40-60 watts. It is also possible to supplement such lighting with LED lamps of a warm glow spectrum.
But it is worth noting that the use of LED lamps, which do not have a high ripple coefficient, are approved for domestic use by the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. Such lighting devices are not harmful. To choose a suitable lighting device, you need to pay attention to the glow temperature. This indicator is indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging. The glow temperature of the lamps, which are recognized as safe, should be in the range from 2700 to 3200 K. For the home, you need to buy lamps with warm shades of glow, since they are most similar to natural sunlight.
Blue light output
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 health 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 under conditions of strong exposure. The entire spectrum of radiation was in the range unsafe for the retina.
In cool white LEDs, a fraction of the blue component is present. But it also exists in the sunlight. Moreover, in the number of such emissions, 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 do 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
When studying whether LED lamps are harmful to eye health, it is worth paying attention to such an aspect of their work as ripple. This quality is inherent in almost any source of artificial lighting. Flicker is an unsafe factor that has long been proven by scientists.
Flicker in the range of 8-300 Hz negatively affects the nervous system. Moreover, it can be both visible and invisible pulsations. The waves that emit electrical appliances, affecting the organs of vision, the brain. This contributes to poor overall health. LED lamps are no exception. But in this case, the effect on the human body is minimal.
The harm of LED lamps can be minimized if the system is supplemented with a high-quality filter. It is installed on a voltage driver. This allows you to save the electrical device from the variable component. The ripple in this case does not exceed 1%.
The ripple coefficient, which is acceptable by sanitary standards, should not exceed 10%. To do this, even in the most inexpensive bulbs, a switching power supply is integrated. But high-quality filtering can only be achieved using a high-quality voltage driver. The cost of the lamp in this case cannot be low. Such lighting devices 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 why LED lamps are dangerous, you may come across the claim that they inhibit the production of the hormone melatonin. He is responsible for regulating the circadian rhythm and the frequency of sleep. With the onset of darkness in a healthy body, the concentration of the hormone melatonin increases. This causes a feeling of drowsiness.
Working at night, a person knocks down his biorhythms. His body is exposed to various adverse factors, including lighting. In the course of research, it was found that LED rays adversely affect vision at night. This is too bright a radiation.
Therefore, after dark, avoid the bright light emitted by LED lamps. This is especially true of the bedroom, children's room. With the onset of darkness, 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 for a long time, on which there is an LED backlight. If such an effect is systematic, a person may develop insomnia. This is the harm of LED lamps, which can be prevented if a dimmer is included 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 the neutralization of oxidative processes. This slows down the aging process. If melatonin is not produced in sufficient quantities, this leads to premature aging and other negative consequences.
Standardization
LED ceiling and table lamps are made in accordance with established standards. It is worth noting that a single regulatory documentation for all lighting devices of this type does not exist. This area of industrial production is still only developing. Here there are new pros and cons.
Standardization of LED lighting products is part of the current regulatory documents. They regulate the normal effect on a person’s vision, in which his health will not be impaired. So, 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 here with which the maximum permissible values of hazardous exposure are calculated.
The presented standard states that all lighting devices that emit a continuous light wave are assigned to one of 4 danger groups. Determining whether a lamp belongs to a particular category is carried out experimentally. For this, ultraviolet and infrared rays, which can be hazardous to vision, are also measured. Also determined by the intensity of exposure to blue light, the thermal effect that emits a lighting device. The listed effects can adversely affect the health of the retina.
SP 52.13330.2011 establishes the requirements for LED ceiling lamps, as well as other lighting fixtures. It is said here that the parameters of the light flux emitted by such devices should not go beyond the permissible limits. This standard regulates that the color temperature should be between 2400 and 6800 K. The maximum allowable ultraviolet radiation is 0.03 W / m². The mass of other factors and indicators is also standardized by this standard.
Infrared and ultraviolet range
Many buyers are wondering if LED lamps are harmful to vision. To conclude that it is advisable to purchase such a lighting device, one more aspect should be considered.
It is worth noting that you can get a white glow of a lamp 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 limits of the visible spectrum. Therefore, such a lamp cannot generate a luminous flux in the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum.
The second method involves obtaining a white spectrum of the glow by using a blue LED. A special phosphor is applied to its surface. It forms a stream of rays in which yellow predominates. By mixing blue and yellow shades of light, various shades of white light are obtained.
Even using this technology, the presence of ultraviolet rays is negligible. They cannot harm eyesight. Infrared radiation is slightly larger, but it does not exceed 15%. This indicator is incommensurably lower 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 large amount of electromagnetic radiation.
The design provides a high-frequency module. This driver is the most powerful source of electromagnetic radiation in an LED lamp. High-frequency pulses that the device produces can even affect the operation of radio transmitters, Wi-Fi devices, if they are located in the immediate vicinity of such equipment.
But it is worth remembering that although the electromagnetic radiation of LED lamps, although high, is almost safe for human health. 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 established standards.
The danger of using such LED lamps is the use of low-quality parts. So, lamps that cost less than 250 rubles. apiece 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 only partially copes with its function. Because of this, the ripple coefficient can reach 60%. This negatively affects the vision and general well-being of a person. Therefore, do not buy cheap Chinese products. It can be really harmful to humans.
The opinion of experts
So, are LED lamps harmful? Experts say that the negative impact of the presented lighting devices is greatly exaggerated. To avoid negative consequences for vision, you need to choose high-quality 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 the use of such lighting devices.