Incandescent lamps
An incandescent lamp produces light through heating a filament. Most energy is radiated in the infrared (IR) area (as heat instead of light), which results in a very low efficiency. The health risks are minimal. Because they waste so much energy, the European Union has decided to gradually withdraw incandescent lamps from the market. |
Halogen lamps
Fluorescent lamps
The tube of a fluorescent lamp is covered on the inside by a fluorescent layer and is filled with mercury gas under low pressure. An electric tension between electrodes at the end of the tube excites the mercury gas, producing ultraviolet light. In the fluorescent layer the UV light is converted into visible light. The fluorescent layer is not always perfectly homogeneous and lets pass a bit of UV light . This is why a fluorescent lamp gives a bit of ultraviolet and blue light. The most well-known examples are the fluorescent lamp tubes and the compact fluorescent lamps, CFL (also called energy saving lamps).
Compact fluorescent lamps also produce non-optical electromagnetic fields of intermediate frequencies (30-60 kilohertz, kHz). They do not transmit radio waves, reason why they cannot be compared with mobile phones (as is done sometimes). Even the most prominent type of radiation (of 30–60 kHz) lies under the exposure limit if one maintains some distance to the lamp (a few centimetres).
LEDhealth risk (“blue light hazard”).
You can download all information of this section in its entirety as a pdf document (info sheet “Lamps and radiation”).