Re: EMF & full spectrum (or near full) light

[Guest guest]

Freika,

I'm not sure of any advantage in running DC lighting from an ES

perspective. As far as I know, halogen lights are supposed to

be bad news, although perhaps the reason for this is the AC-DC

transformer? Also, florescent lighting is bad news in general.

I use incandescent AC full-spectrum lighting, brand names are

" Blues Busters " and Chromalux. The light is good, and they

don't cause me problems.

Marc

[Guest guest]

Have you considered an LED replacement bulb?

http://store.sundancesolar.com/120voacledre.html

I don't know how the spectrum works but EMF should be very low as this

is ultra low power consumption. We have used LEDs for our emergency

lighting and there is a bit of a bluish tint to them, but they are VERY

bright, much more than incandescent for the same power level. I have

read that there are firms working on a more complete spectrum solution

for LED, perhaps they are available somewhere.

--Kurt

SPAM-LOW: EMF & full spectrum (or near full) light

I'm trying to reduce EMFs from my living space--I have MCS and

apparently it often/always co-occurs with EMF sensitivities. I'm an

artist and need a full spectrum (or near full) light and good &

bright. I live full-time in an rv & want something that will run on DC

power so I can reduce my exposure to EMFs. I'm currently using a

flourescent shop fixture with full spectrum bulbs--bad news I know-AC

powered & flourescent. Can you recommend anything that would give me

the light I need that will run on dc power. The lights that came with

the RV are very dim, and I'm looking at replacing the bulbs with

halogen, but not sure if that will give enough light. I could replace

the fixtures with dc flourescent fixtures which seem like they would

give more light (and a more diffuse/non-directed light) than a halogen

bulb, but I'm confused as to whether it's the flourescent fixtures

that are high emf, or if it's because of the AC power. Are dc

flourescents safe?? What can anyone recommend?

Thanks,

Freika

[Guest guest]

Here is a better link to an LED bulb, this one is 12V

http://store.sundancesolar.com/12v18ledbufo.html

SPAM-LOW: EMF & full spectrum (or near full) light

I'm trying to reduce EMFs from my living space--I have MCS and

apparently it often/always co-occurs with EMF sensitivities. I'm an

artist and need a full spectrum (or near full) light and good &

bright. I live full-time in an rv & want something that will run on DC

power so I can reduce my exposure to EMFs. I'm currently using a

flourescent shop fixture with full spectrum bulbs--bad news I know-AC

powered & flourescent. Can you recommend anything that would give me

the light I need that will run on dc power. The lights that came with

the RV are very dim, and I'm looking at replacing the bulbs with

halogen, but not sure if that will give enough light. I could replace

the fixtures with dc flourescent fixtures which seem like they would

give more light (and a more diffuse/non-directed light) than a halogen

bulb, but I'm confused as to whether it's the flourescent fixtures

that are high emf, or if it's because of the AC power. Are dc

flourescents safe?? What can anyone recommend?

Thanks,

Freika

[Guest guest]

> Have you considered an LED replacement bulb?

>

> http://store.sundancesolar.com/120voacledre.html

Has anyone here experimented with these new LED bulbs

and see how they are for ES folks? Compact florescents

were energy efficient too, but horrible for ES folks

(I could tell the difference quite quickly). But

I haven't bought any of these new LED bulbs to

compare...

(and to me, gauss meter readings are irrelevant --

I want to know how well people actually tolerate

them)

Marc

[Guest guest]

> I'm not sure of any advantage in running DC lighting from an ES

> perspective. As far as I know, halogen lights are supposed to

> be bad news, although perhaps the reason for this is the AC-DC

> transformer? Also, florescent lighting is bad news in general.

The advantage of DC lighting from an ES perspective is simply that DC

wiring and fixtures don't produce any EMF at all, so there is no

danger of ES from DC wiring, fixtures, etc. This is assuming you

DONT'T use something like a DC fluorescent light which converts the

DC to AC in order to run the fluorescent tube.

12V DC Halogen lights would be no problem, and would generate no EMF

either. The problem with halogen fixtures which run on AC power

is that those which use low voltage bulbs use a step-down transformer

which generates high EMFs.

Garth

[Guest guest]

The bright white LED's are fluorescent. They use the blue ones to

make them, which is why it sometimes has a bluish cast. I just in the

recent past posted about that, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

As long as DC emf's don't bother you, as even they do some people,

and you really don't want one in your RV that uses an inverter, you

might consider having one made up special. For art, (and I find it

very nice for when the sun is not out) one of the 9000-10,000 Kelvin

bulbs used in photography studios. The bulbs are about $70/a piece,

but depending on how you want it angled, one to two should be enough

in something that size.

Closest you can get to real daylight.

Then halogens like suggested, might work, or Full spectrum

incandescents. Those seem to bother me least, and GE has some

called " Edison " for about the brightest you can get in that area.

Let us know what you try and how it works.

~ Snoshoe

> SPAM-LOW: EMF & full spectrum (or near full) light

>

> I'm trying to reduce EMFs from my living space--I have MCS and

> apparently it often/always co-occurs with EMF sensitivities. I'm an

> artist and need a full spectrum (or near full) light and good &

> bright. I live full-time in an rv & want something that will run on

DC

> power so I can reduce my exposure to EMFs. I'm currently using a

> flourescent shop fixture with full spectrum bulbs--bad news I know-

AC

> powered & flourescent. Can you recommend anything that would give

me

> the light I need that will run on dc power. The lights that came

with

> the RV are very dim, and I'm looking at replacing the bulbs with

> halogen, but not sure if that will give enough light. I could

replace

> the fixtures with dc flourescent fixtures which seem like they

would

> give more light (and a more diffuse/non-directed light) than a

halogen

> bulb, but I'm confused as to whether it's the flourescent fixtures

> that are high emf, or if it's because of the AC power. Are dc

> flourescents safe?? What can anyone recommend?

> Thanks,

> Freika

>

[Guest guest]

I'm realize I'm new to this list, and I realize that there are a lot

of opinions out there about what you can be sensitive to. I am

myself starting to believe I am somewhat ES and am trying to

determine exactly the triggers and solutions. Still, there seems

to be a lot of confusion about AC and DC EMF's and what they are. I

don't know if this mail will help some people, but I hope so.

When people talk about DC emf's, what (in physics terms) they must be

talking about are static magnetic fields, i.e. magnetic fields that

don't oscillate or change rapidly, which is what is produced by DC

current flowing.

From a physics point of view, this produced field is the same as

that produced by a permanent magnet. Since we live in a constant DC

magnetic field of about 300-500 milligauss (produced by the earth

itself), we are always exposed to extremely strong DC EMF's every day.

In fact, the earth's core generates it's magnetic field due to very

large circulating DC electric currents. So, humans have evolved

living with very strong DC currents generating strong DC magnetic

fields.

To me, it seems rather unlikely that people are sensitive to a PURE

DC field, such as that produced by a bar magnet and/or circulating DC

currents. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just saying that

there are many more likely issues when someone doesn't feel good

around a DC electrical system.

When people say they are " sensitive " to DC EMF's, or get symptoms

from that field, I suspect they are sensitive to a device which is

attached to the DC that converts it to AC. For instance, I have a

boat with a DC light that has a circuit that generates an enormous

amount of EMF " noise " (AC EMF) when the light is powered. This is

clearly measurable with a tri-field meter or similar.

Many supposed DC devices actually generate VERY large amounts of AC

magnetic field and/or RF (radio frequencies), which can trigger

symptoms. Some examples are:

- laptop computers, which (even when powered from batteries),

generate very high magnetic fields through disk drive motors,

flourescent backlight power supplies, and motherboard oscillators/logic.

- inverters & power converters, which are very common in DC powered

stereo equipment, flourescent lighting, DC dimmer circuits, portable

DC electronics, etc.

- battery charge systems, including solar charge controllers, many of

which use " switch-mode " regulators that chop up the DC and thereby

produce AC magnetic fields.

All of these DC devices are very common, and all produce strong (and

easily measurable) AC magnetic fields. Some of these fields have

high frequency components which some people claim are more irritating

than the basic 60hz AC fields. For instance, my laptop makes me

feel TERRIBLE, even when run on battery, but that is because it

generates a very strong AC EMF at a an irritating high frequency, due

to its internal power conversion circuitry.

In general, 12V batteries, wiring, switches, and lighting (other than

fluorescent) should not produce an AC field (except in a transient

burst when current is switched on or off), but many other 12V

devices " convert " the DC in various ways that generate AC EMF or RF EMF.

You can learn more about DC fields, magnetism, and the earth's

circulating currents from here:

http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wmfield.html

[Guest guest]

> The bright white LED's are fluorescent. They use the blue ones to

> make them, which is why it sometimes has a bluish cast. I just in the

> recent past posted about that, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

It is correct that blue LED's are used to make bright white LED's.

They combine red, green, and blue LED's together to generate the

" white light " of an bright white LED. However, although the LIGHT

SPECTRUM of the LED's is similar to a cool white fluorescent light,

it is not correct to say that they " are fluorescent " . Bright white

LEDs when powered directly by DC (and when they don't contain dimmer

or power conversion circuitry) do not generate any electromagnetic

interference.

12V halogens are a good choice also, I agree, but not if you run them

off of AC power, only if you run them off of DC power with no dimmer

or power conversion circuitry.

[Guest guest]

Okay, here's some more on it although it is true the colors have been

combined to do this in the past.

An important LED breakthrough of 1990s was the application of

fluorescent phosphors to change the spectrum of light emitted by LEDs.

In this process, blue and near-UV emitting LEDs are painted with a mix

of phosphors that absorbs the incoming light and emits the desired

mixture of wavelengths.

http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/TechBase/litled_LightEmittingDiodes.h

tml

Physics

Fluorescence

" Fluorescence " is the emission of electromagnetic radiation, especially

of visible light, stimulated in a substance by the absorption of

radiation of another wavelength. The emission persists only as long as

the stimulating radiation is continued.

The most common cases of fluorescence convert incoming radiation of a

short wavelength (e.g. black light) into longer wavelength visible

light. The incoming radiation is absorbed by an atom, kicking an

electron up into a higher energy level. When the electron falls back

down, it doesn't go all the way down to its base state. The radiation

that it emits is less energetic, of a longer wavelength.

In some cases, longer wavelength radiation is converted to shorter

wavelength, as in the frequency-doubling crystals used to make green

LASER pointers from IR LASER diodes. In this example, one low energy

photon kicks an electron up, and a second photon kicks the electron

even higher. When the electron returns to the base level, it emits

energy corresponding to the sum of the two incoming photons - having a

shorter wavelength.

Some fluorescent materials are:

fluor spar

uranium glass

calcium sulphide

Fluorescence can be stimulated by:

visible light

ultra-violet rays (black light)

cathode rays (this is how a conventional television lights up the

screen)

X rays

heat

etc.

http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/TechBase/litadv_AdvancedLightingConce

pt.html#Fluorescence

~ Snoshoe

> They combine red, green, and blue LED's together to generate the

> " white light " of an bright white LED. However, although the LIGHT

> SPECTRUM of the LED's is similar to a cool white fluorescent light,

> it is not correct to say that they " are fluorescent " . Bright

white

> LEDs when powered directly by DC (and when they don't contain dimmer

> or power conversion circuitry) do not generate any electromagnetic

> interference.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for clarifying this. Fair enough, I concur that they use

flourescent phosphors to generate light. I was wrong then to

technically say they weren't " flourescent " .

To clarify my point, they don't pose the EMF risks that typical

fluorescent lights pose, specifically because they don't use high

voltage gas discharge tubes, and don't have ballasts or transformers

like typical fluorescent fixtures, thus, the risks from the EMF point

of view should be the same as other LEDs (i.e. NO AC EMF at all when

run on DC).

On Mar 23, 2006, at 5:08 PM, snoshoe_2 wrote:

> Okay, here's some more on it although it is true the colors have been

> combined to do this in the past.

>

> An important LED breakthrough of 1990s was the application of

> fluorescent phosphors to change the spectrum of light emitted by LEDs.

> In this process, blue and near-UV emitting LEDs are painted with a mix

> of phosphors that absorbs the incoming light and emits the desired

> mixture of wavelengths.

> http://wolfstone.halloweenhost.com/TechBase/

> litled_LightEmittingDiodes.h

> tml

[Guest guest]

does anyone know of a source for 12V DC Halogen lights to replace

1141 & 1076 rv/automobile bulbs. the bulbs i've found online are all

the wrong type base.

>

> > I'm not sure of any advantage in running DC lighting from an ES

> > perspective. As far as I know, halogen lights are supposed to

> > be bad news, although perhaps the reason for this is the AC-DC

> > transformer? Also, florescent lighting is bad news in general.

>

> The advantage of DC lighting from an ES perspective is simply that

DC

> wiring and fixtures don't produce any EMF at all, so there is no

> danger of ES from DC wiring, fixtures, etc. This is assuming you

> DONT'T use something like a DC fluorescent light which converts

the

> DC to AC in order to run the fluorescent tube.

>

> 12V DC Halogen lights would be no problem, and would generate no

EMF

> either. The problem with halogen fixtures which run on AC

power

> is that those which use low voltage bulbs use a step-down

transformer

> which generates high EMFs.

>

> Garth

>