I was thinking about buying a full spectrum light bulb or two and was recommended a particular site. It makes a lot of bold claims about their full spectrum bulbs including:
- Reduces unpleasant odors and cigarette smoke
- Revitalises room atmosphere, removing micro pollutants
- Works to eliminate airborne viruses and bacteria
How is it possible for a light bulb to have these effects? Is it just nonsense or is there something to it?
Here’s the link: Supplier of UVB 311nm handheld medical lamps for Psoriasis and Vitiligo
Read a few things debating whether these sort of bulbs improve mood (also interested in whether anyone has any insight on this) but not much about the claimed ionizing effect of these bulbs and their supposed ablity to reduce pollutants and bacteria etc. http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/projects/irc/full-spectrum-lighting.html
Thanks in advance!
Most of those claims are entirely bogus, but there are a few tiny kernels of truth.
UV light is a pretty effective disinfectant, but the most effective wavelengths for killing bacteria also happen to be the most effective wavelengths for giving you a sunburn or burning your retinas. In both cases, the UV light is damaging DNA. That kills off small vulnerable critters, damages your cells, and causes mutations that potentially give you skin cancer. You really don’t want to expose yourself to the sort of UV light that’s an effective disinfectant. A “full spectrum” light should have filters that prevent UV emission, thus blocking any potential disinfecting properties.
Really bright lights (but not necessarily full spectrum) are very effective in treating seasonal depression. That sort of depression is caused by the lack of sunlight that comes with winter in northern latitudes – so a really bright light can substitute for natural sunlight. Light therapy has some very modest success in treating non-seasonal depression. However the light has to be very bright; the typical therapeutically effective brightness is around 10,000 lux, while your typical home lighting is in the ballpark of 100 lux. There’s no way the piddly little 32 watt fluorescent bulb that you link to is providing anywhere near that much light, unless it’s just a few inches from your eyeballs.
ETA: The claims about removing odors and pollutants from the air seem like total nonsense.