Photosensitivity at Work from LED Overhead lights

Join Light Aware, if you haven't yet! We need all the signatures we can get. The more aware people are about why these aren't just unfriendly to humans, but damaging ecology, the more chance we have to get accountability and oversight and hopefully change at least head lamps back to halogen for a start. 

I still have problems with light sensitivity as per my street lights thread you have commented on before.

Now, if I go out at night after dark, I have lights, from a couple of miles away piercing into my retinas if i look in a certain direction. It's still uncomfortable despite them being far away. 

I don't understand a)why we need such lighting in thr first place b)if it can't be helped, why they have to be this certain colour of white c)why they have to be so bright.

I say all this but in other situations I find lighting when used creatively, very pleasing to the senses.

I understand how they're supposed to work. There's a profound lack of oversight on how the entire country has just been haphazardly replaced with blinding lights, laser-like lights (which should be illegal) and bandwidths which are frustrating to be exposed to. 

As per my comment, if we used the analogy of the sound spectrum to lights, no one would stand for it. If the world is going to be reckless about something like this, they should've left night lights the way they were

Flouro lights sHAVE to flicker at 50Hz because of how they work but LED light SHOULD be flicker free. 

HOWEVER, due to us outsourcing all of semiconductor and electronic subassemblies to a country that does not do quality control to the same standards that we used to, SOME but not all LED lamps flicker.

It depends how good (or well engineered) the power supply is for the LED array. LED lights are a very variable thing, my chemist has all LED panels in his roof and they look AWFUL now, all patchy and crap. 

I had 36 5 foot ex government surplus LED fittings a few years ago and they work like champs. No faidng so far in 4 years for the ones I most use. 

Bell electric used to make a lightbulb adaptor and cap https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364433173855?itmmeta=01J1ZB56T659M5Q36AEAXP3RVB&hash=item54d9e8ed5f:g:UfoAAOSw2rpk4zmA&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4HY4osFzx3DH1aXqRPISk4i4FVTK%2B%2FSPyVw9fAiOUfEuSX2E1x1YNDhnXtKi4kixTBnOiW4JxSt9kcFijmIiOyHrNvBFmIOEPQ552LF3sxPTT76CAv92elBzaFwMK2EwM3Xv9LJ%2BeSyhs%2F2KYAibYTlKRdybqFN4q8c%2B9Px4L5zWIhXgd%2BANTVb7%2FgcixqDp5PvUGKIBydpHkk7ZanpK5bGJ%2FNunHLCwLg%2FV%2FuyhVz7AbWw6Jj28bEzNaHJIrC9LZnVI6jPS8r%2BYKyPWJoJr%2F5e2qyZBA5TjJfpt5nCeEjUs%7Ctkp%3ABFBMmu2U649k

The light bulb components last for decades, and they're easily replaced with a small halogen tube. You'd unscrew the glass bulb, add a new halogen and then piece them back together. They designed these to be incredibly efficient, so the components outlast an LED, are about as energy efficient (most LEDs have low ratings) and as a small halogen bulb is replaceable every year or two, cost about the same, but less over time. I use them in most of my home. It's literally a lie they use any more electricity. I fully believe lighting will be known as one of the biggest greenwashing scams ever 100 years from now if not sooner.

Is there any natural light in the office and can you be repositioned to looking at it? Another way of soothing the effect can be to bring in your own Halogen Lamp. John Lewis makes an £25 desk lamp which works with a halogen bulb and you can find these on eBay or in hardware stores still. 

This is a charity I support lightaware.org/ and have worked with to help research the problem with how unnatural light sources affect our eye sight. 

The problems with LEDs and fluorescent is the bandwidth and flicker. Our eyes have receptors which are designed for a natural curve of light which mimics the sun. Unnatural sources from LEDs are designed with tiny laser-like diodes and both these and florescent have a flicker which anyone with a hypersensitivity will catch, even at a subliminal level. For me, it creates a low-grade anxiety-induced-stress and I start experiencing a problem catching my breath. A natural source like halogen might be able to balance this out.

I've often said we can make an analogy to sound in order to explain the problem some of us can perceive with unnatural light. An LED would be the equivalent of listening to a song with No bass below 150, while boosting frequencies above 10k to where it's painful. Then add a sharp EQ at 6500 and a broad EQ for the rest of the low to mid frequencies. No one would listen to music like this. Floruecents are an even smaller width and strobe-y. 

Using light or sound to the degree of sensory assault we experience is illegal for torturing prisoners with. If the added width of light provided by the halogen lamp doesn't help, I would request to move somewhere near a window so you're not fighting in order to be more productive. 

How about using a sheet of coloured plastic over the light itself? There should be rolls of pastel coloured available through the office stationery supplies company and they may be able to get some samples sent to you.

This should give a filter to take the edge off.

In the meantime have you considerd using a baseball cap to block the light from shining in your eyes? Maybe add a pair of sunglasses if this isn't enough (the light will still get by the edges but the top will be blocked by the cap.

I would also speak to the building maintenance guys and ask if they have other types of LED bulbs - there are "cool" and "warm" - it may be worth trying the other type to see if it makes a difference for you.

Another alternative is finding a different location in the office where you are not looking at any lights directly - is this an option?