PLASTIC BULBS OUTSHINE LEDS AND FLUORESCENTS

Shattered compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb releases mercury

David Carroll, professor of physics at Wake Forest University, NC, and his team developed a shatter-proof, long-lasting, flicker-free, mercury-free, hum-free light bulb—the Fipel, the acronym for the technology on which the concept is based:  field-induced polymer electroluminescence.

The malleable bulb will be available in any shape and size, from large sheets for commercial applications to small household bulbs.

Fipels are at least twice as efficient as CFLs and are long-lasting—Carroll reports he’s had one burning in his laboratory for nearly a decade.

He explains that his innovation consist of “ . . . three layers of a white-emitting polymer that contain a small volume of nanomaterials that glow when electric current is passed through them.”

Users will find that Fipel light is much warmer than the light emitted from fluorescents.

Of these bulbs, Carroll says, “They have a bluish, harsh tint to them.  It is not really accommodating to the human eye; people complain of headaches and the reason is the spectral content of that light doesn’t match the sun—our device can match the solar spectrum perfectly.

“I’m saying we are brighter than one of these curlicue bulbs and I can give you any tint to that white light that you want.

“What we’ve found is a way of creating light rather than heat.  Our devices contain no mercury, they contain no caustic chemicals and they don’t break as they are not made of glass.”

The inventor says the Fipel is cheap to make and that he has a corporate partner interested in producing the bulbs.  He expects the first units to be available in 2013.

Source:  SmartPlanet Daily,  December 3, 2012     CBCnews, December 3, 2012     BBCnews, December 3, 2012     Article about development published in journal of Organic Electronics

6 MORE TIPS FOR BETTER #SLEEP

Turn off your LEDs and TV and computer screens well before bedtime.

If you’re using one of the new LED nightlights in your bedroom, it’s probably interfering with your sleep.  And so are your laptop and TV, if you’re using them before bedtime.

What the three have in common is that the “white” light in each is visible to us in the blue spectrum.

All light in the blue spectrum blocks the body’s production of melatonin, which we rely on for the regulation of our biological clocks—telling us when we’re sleepy.

We also need the compound because of its anti-oxidant and anti-cancerous properties.  A lack of melatonin causes behavior disruptions and health problems; a lack of sleep impairs our thinking, memory and planning abilities.

“Just as there are regulations and standards for ‘classic’ pollutants, there should also be regulations and rules for pollution stemming from artificial light at night,” says Abraham Haim, head of the Center for Interdisciplinary Chronobiological Research at the University of Haifa.

Researchers found that “white” LED blubs suppress the body’s production of melatonin up to 5 times more than some other bulbs.

LEDs suppress melatonin production 3 times as much as do high-pressure sodium (HPS) bulbs, the bulbs that five off an orange-yellow light used in road lighting.

And metal halide bulbs, used for stadium lighting, suppress melatonin 3 times greater than does the orange HPS blub.

Here are the recommendations of the researchers involved in the study:

Don’t sleep with the lights on.

Don’t use nightlights in the bedroom.  If you must get up at night, switch on a nightstand light or put a nightlight in a nearby room—the hall or bathroom.

Keep your bedroom pitch black by using blinds or “blackout” curtains.

Instead of heavy curtains, wear a sleep mask over your eyes at night to block out light.

After dark, limit exposure to white lights including overhead lights and TV and computer screens.

Use table lamps with soft white bulbs and shades to provide a soft glow.

Source:  CNCA  September 27, 2011       Medical Press  September 12, 2011     Study published in Journal of Environmental Management, September, 2011