[sci.med] Lighting

msb@sq.uucp (Mark Brader) (01/31/88)

> >I CAN NOT STAND the florescent light used in large rooms ...

> I recently heard of some British work which indicated that people spending
> long hours (ie working) under conventional florescent lights experienced
> significantly more [headaches, etc.]...

I'd like to point out that in Britain the fluorescent lights strobe at
100 Hz, whereas on this continent it is 120 Hz.  (Twice the power frequency
in each case, of course.)  This may or may not be a large enough difference
to make any difference to such symptoms, but I wouldn't be surprised if it
did.  So the British study may not be wholly applicable here.

Personally, I *like* bright overhead lighting.  Trying to work by a
lamp that's inside my field of vision or which lights only part of it,
or watching TV in the dark rooms that some people prefer, tends to give
me a headache.  Of course, some people are exactly the opposite way,
and we end up back at the idea that offices are a Good Thing.


Oh, please note:  it's "fluorescent", not "florescent" (which means something
completely different, and sounds rather comical applied to lights).  And
not "flourescent" either, which is not a word and also sounds comical.
This is not a flame -- just a request to get it right next time.

I have added cross-postings to misc.jobs.misc, where I think the topic
belongs, and to sci.med, where we might find an expert's reference
in the topic.  I have directed followups to misc.jobs.misc only.

Mark Brader			"Poor spelling does not prove poor knowledge,
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto		 but is fatal to the argument by intimidation."
utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com				-- Gene Ward Smith