{"id":502,"date":"2015-09-12T12:40:48","date_gmt":"2015-09-12T16:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=502"},"modified":"2015-09-22T11:09:24","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T15:09:24","slug":"use-of-led-lamps-to-improve-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=502","title":{"rendered":"Use of LED Lamps To Improve Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s New York Times has an article<\/a> on several manufacturers’ new LED products that are intended to improve wakefulness, sleep, focus, and other aspects of daily life and health. The\u00a0article appears on\u00a0both the business and technology pages, but not on the health page, and\u00a0I think that’s appropriate. \u00a0Although there are testimonials by the consumers of some of these products, there’s no discussion about any peer reviewed science behind them. \u00a0In fact, about two-thirds of the way through the article the author finally gets to the fact that, “Researchers are still determining how spectrum and intensity of light affect the brain.” \u00a0So, the article is an uncritical look at new LED products that make health claims. \u00a0We shouldn’t rely only on the claims of the manufacturers, though – remember the claims of 100,000 hour lifetimes for LED lamps?<\/p>\n

I’m not saying that we know nothing about how light affects us, because we know quite a bit. \u00a0The question is, “Do we know enough to properly and safely integrate that information into our design practice?” and there things become uncertain. \u00a0So, before accepting the claims of manufacturers, or making the same claims to clients, it’s important for designers to be up to date on the current state of research and to understand the strength of the findings, as well as how (and if) those findings can be folded into a design.<\/p>\n

There are a few\u00a0web sites that I find useful for keeping up to date. \u00a0The first is the Health and Vision<\/a> page of the Lighting Research Center’s web site, which has links to many of their recently published research papers. \u00a0The second is the Research<\/a> page of USAI Lighting’s web site. \u00a0This page provides links to a mix of newspaper articles and scholarly publications on a variety of topics connected to LED lighting. \u00a0The third is the Research<\/a> page of the IES web site. \u00a0Finally, members if the IES can \u00a0download copies of Leucos<\/a>, and non-members can purchase copies.<\/p>\n

LEDs continue to revolutionize the lighting industry. \u00a0Most manufacturers have ended \u00a0research and development for incandescent and fluorescent products. OLEDs are increasing in efficacy and prices are dropping, while new technologies (such as light emitting plasma and quantum dots) are on the horizon or already here. To preserve their client’s money, the occupant’s health and safety, and their own reputations, designers need to make sure that they don’t get swept up in the possibilities that are marketed to them before the facts are in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today’s New York Times has an article on several manufacturers’ new LED products that are intended to improve wakefulness, sleep, focus, and other aspects of daily life and health. The\u00a0article appears on\u00a0both the business and technology pages, but not on the health page, and\u00a0I think that’s appropriate. \u00a0Although there are testimonials by the consumers of … Continue reading Use of LED Lamps To Improve Health<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,18,3,11,19],"tags":[24,59],"class_list":["post-502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-color","category-design","category-health","category-leds","category-lighting-profession","tag-led-color","tag-light-and-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gZSw-86","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=223","url_meta":{"origin":502,"position":0},"title":"Circadian Lighting","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"October 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent article in The Wall Street Journal discussed the possibilities and benefits of lighting systems that shift color to mimic the changes in daylight. It\u2019s a complicated subject so it\u2019s not surprising that some of what\u2019s reported is inaccurate, so let me clarify a few things. First, our current\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"ipRGC (black), rod (blue), and cone (red) sensitivity curves","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/VLambda-phot-scot-circ-300x254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2564,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=2564","url_meta":{"origin":502,"position":1},"title":"Designing Beyond Fidelity","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"May 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I recently began a project that includes about 8,000 SF of office space that is completely without windows or skylights. \u00a0I've renovated spaces like this before, and the common complaint from occupants was a disconnect from daylight, weather, and the way they indicate the passage of time. \u00a0On this project,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":692,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=692","url_meta":{"origin":502,"position":2},"title":"LRC Responds to AMA on LEDs","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"March 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"You may remember that in June of last year the American Medical Association (AMA) released a report called \u201cHuman and Environmental Effects of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Community Lighting.\u201d The report made some noise in the general press because it supported the idea that blue light from blue-pump white LEDs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=98","url_meta":{"origin":502,"position":3},"title":"Basking in a New Glow","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"February 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The New York times has an \"I Heart LEDs\" article in today's paper that leaves out some important information about evaluating them. \u00a0Here are some additional thoughts. The government hasn't done a very good job of publicizing or explaining that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007\u00a0(EISA) set minimum\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lighting Facts Label","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/LED_LF_Label_Example.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/LED_LF_Label_Example.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/LED_LF_Label_Example.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/designinglight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/LED_LF_Label_Example.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":738,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=738","url_meta":{"origin":502,"position":4},"title":"IES Disagrees With AMA on Night Time Outdoor Lighting","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"June 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year the AMA issued Policy H-135.927\u00a0Human and Environmental Effects of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Community Lighting, which recommended, among other things, that LED outdoor lighting should have a CCT of 3000 K or below. \u00a0The AMA made this recommendation thinking that lower correlated color temperatures contain less blue light,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Color"","block_context":{"text":"Color","link":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":689,"url":"https:\/\/designinglight.com\/?p=689","url_meta":{"origin":502,"position":5},"title":"Street Lighting and Blue Light Information from the Department of Energy","author":"Jason Livingston","date":"March 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"News stories generated by the American Medical Association\u2019s (AMA)\u00a0community guidance on street lighting\u00a0has elevated\u00a0the topic of LED street lighting and its potential effects on health and the environment in the public\u2019s mind. 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