And if there is no particular danger from LEDs: Is there an inherent danger in looking at high-lumen lights (regardless what type of light it is)? At which point do we have so much brightness in one small spot that it becomes dangerous?
The first Reddit link bottoms out at this study. The key detail not mentioned in the abstract is that this is in rats whose pupils have been dilated with atropine, and the rats are in conditions where a human with pharmaceutically-dilated eyes would not be able to function without sunglasses. This makes the paper’s comparison between different types of light sources and wavelengths pretty uninformative.
The rest are all about what level of brightness is acceptable. But we have a pretty good point of comparison: we know sunlight is safe (as long as you don’t look at the sun directly); and the indoor lighting solutions under consideration are all significantly dimmer than sunlight.
Thank you, great post! I especially liked your insight on the color rendering index.
There are some reports that LED lighting can damage your eyes. From a quick glance at Wikipedia, the evidence does not seem very convincing, but I’m not an expert. What do you think about those claims? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_effects_of_high-energy_visible_light#On_eye_health
And if there is no particular danger from LEDs: Is there an inherent danger in looking at high-lumen lights (regardless what type of light it is)? At which point do we have so much brightness in one small spot that it becomes dangerous?
Two relevant links: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/5m8sn7/leds_may_cause_retinal_toxicity_at_occupational/ https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/d5ag44/how_many_lumens_is_safe_for_eyes_over_long/
The first Reddit link bottoms out at this study. The key detail not mentioned in the abstract is that this is in rats whose pupils have been dilated with atropine, and the rats are in conditions where a human with pharmaceutically-dilated eyes would not be able to function without sunglasses. This makes the paper’s comparison between different types of light sources and wavelengths pretty uninformative.
The rest are all about what level of brightness is acceptable. But we have a pretty good point of comparison: we know sunlight is safe (as long as you don’t look at the sun directly); and the indoor lighting solutions under consideration are all significantly dimmer than sunlight.