“Let there be light.” Since the beginning of time, light, along with air, water and food, has been the foundation of our lives. At one time, we spent our daily lives in outside activities with the light of the sun to guide our work and provide an environment that sustained our well-being.

Today, most of our work activities take place within buildings––leaving us with little access to direct, natural light. The traditional incandescent light bulb, which has been the mainstay of lighting our homes and offices for many decades, is now under fire for environmental and personal health issues.

New lighting designs include light bulbs and fluorescent tubes––called full-spectrum lighting––that mimic the natural light of the sun. Full spectrum light simulates the color range (both visible and ultraviolet) of natural outdoor light. Our eyes evolved in full spectrum light. It is the light in which we see best. Standard cool white incandescent bulbs and most fluorescent light do not provide the type of light conducive to our long-term health because they do not produce full-spectrum light. This may be contributing to “mal-illumination,” say photo-biologists, the scientists who specialize in the study of light’s effects on living creatures.

One way of rating light is by a color rendering index, the CRI, with a maximum value of 100. Full-spectrum fluorescent lighting has a value of 91, while standard cool white fluorescent rates at 68; and other fluorescent is just 56. Under natural light, or an artificial source that duplicates natural light, there is less human fatigue and stress and better visual acuity and production. A specialist in neurological sciences, physiology and psychology, Phillip Hughes, Ph.D. said, “Light is definitely a nutrient. It is essential to life and the whole endocrine system. Light has a role in triggering hormones.” www.full-spectrum-lightning.com

Under light not closely approximating the sun, one study found calcium absorption in the elderly dropped off during the winter when they spent more time indoors. But those elderly who utilized full-spectrum lighting had an increase in calcium absorption. In an upcoming book on holistic medicine, produced with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, Hughes says: “Along with food, air, and water, sunlight is a most important survival factor in human life. Solar radiation activates other important biochemical events in our bodies involved in endocrine control, timing of our biological clocks, entrainment of 24-hour circadian rhythms, immunologic responsiveness, sexual growth and development, regulation of stress and fatigue, control of viral and cold infections, and dampening of functional disorders of the nervous system.”

The California Board for Energy Efficiency funded a study that analyzed student performance data from three elementary school districts that correlated the amount of daylight provided to students and their productivity. The study found that students with the most daylight in their classrooms progressed 20% faster on math tests and 26% on reading tests in one year than those with the least. Similarly, students in classrooms with the largest window areas were found to progress 15% faster in math and 23% faster in reading than those with the least:
www.full-spectrum-lighting.com/durotest/Daylighting%20in%20Schools.htm

The Rocky Mountain Institute has studied the use of various types of lights in the home environment: www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid352.php

Their research shows that while an incandescent light bulb may cost less than 75 cents, it will typically cost six-ten times in electricity use over its 750-hour life, because 90 percent of the electricity that runs an incandescent bulb is lost to heat.

Compact fluorescent bulbs are four times more efficient than an incandescent bulb, and last 9 to 13 times longer or 7000 to 10000 hours. Their up-front cost is more than balanced by their long-term use. Replacing six household light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs could save a household $32 a year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 566 lbs.

PATTI WILLIAMS can be contacted with your questions or comments at: eviecology@aol.com