The proliferation of alternative forms of lighting—for example, LED lamps—has been accelerated by the significantly limited sale of incandescent light lamps. In case you forgot, incandescents failed to meet the efficiency rules of the Energy Independence and Securities Act of 2007. The resulting increase in the usage of LEDs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) has raised concerns about the health of people and the electrical systems.


Like any topic, separating facts from fiction should be the first step before making a large-scale conversion. Headlines such as “The Dark Side of LED Lightbulbs,” “Health Risks of High Powered LED Lights,” or “Pick Your Poison—Mercury in CFLs or Lead in LEDs (or Just Go Back to Incandescent Bulbs)” would make it seem that these lighting types are a serious health risk. Likewise, articles about the high-current harmonic distortion levels and poor power factors would seriously compromise the health of electrical circuits.


CFLs are considered to be a risk to people and the environment. For example, there is the infamous story of a woman in Maine who dropped a CFL on her bathroom floor, and it cost $2,000 to remediate the situation after the broken glass “unleashed the toxic chemicals on the poor inhabitants of the household.” 


In reality, fluorescent lamps contain mercury vapor, but government agencies state the mercury released from a broken fluorescent lamp is so small and rapidly dissipated in air that it is not likely to cause any adverse health effects. Proper disposal is important for retrofit programs and during routine maintenance.


There is a similar concern about the arsenic, copper and lead in LED lamps. Such substances exist in nearly all electronic devices, hence the need for environmentally safe disposal programs for all users. The concern over these lamps when broken is similarly overstated, as the substances don’t jump out and vaporize when dropped. As with CFLs, safety precautions should be taken to not be cut by the broken glass, but the rest of the electronic components are not likely to be damaged in any way that would compromise the health of the individual or the environment.


Another concern relates to the color emitted by LEDs and corresponding effects on biorhythms. Light’s color temperature is measured in Kelvins; the lower the number, the warmer—yellower—the light. A typical incandescent is somewhere between 2,700 and 3,500K, usually a better choice than the bluish, 5,000K LED lamps. With the concentrated light from an LED, especially ones with a high blue content, can cause severe glare, resulting in pupillary constriction of the eyes.


Coupled with shorter wavelengths than yellow and red light, there is the potential for sufficient levels to damage the retina in some applications. This is easily addressed in streetlights by replacing blue lights with warm LEDs (and don’t stare at them). 


This concern can also be remedied by switching to the warm white LED lights (streetlight or home applications) that more closely imitate natural light, and by removing our electronic gadgets with bright indicator LEDs from the rooms where we sleep and charging them in the other room.


The impacts on electrical system health caused by the conversion to newer and more efficient lighting technologies are also a mix of facts with overstated or misunderstood claims. Harmonics are usually on the top of the list. Twenty years ago, some of the these electronic ballasts did have very high current harmonic distortion—sometimes over 100 percent—meaning there was more harmonic current than fundamental frequency current.


The concern reappears with CFLs, which use a somewhat different method to produce the illumination but also with significant harmonic currents and low power factors. Again, harmonic and transient issues have been addressed in both lamp types, especially during the warmup stage.


LEDs have been used for decades. The component that produces the light is itself a nonlinear device; the diode only conducts electricity in one current-flow direction. Direct-current (DC) voltage powers the LED, so the lamp must convert alternating current to DC. While it is possible to make this without appreciable harmonic currents, the economic factors often result in harmonic-rich lamps, following a typical harmonic spectrum like other single-phase, rectified inputs used in other electronic loads, along with a power factor of 0.8.


Are these alternative lighting devices endangering the grid with harmonic currents? Though there have been surveys showing an increase in harmonic voltage distortion after the conversion from incandescent lamps, it is the lumens per watt benefit that is key. With LEDs or CFLs producing five to 10 times the lumens per watt of a lumen-equivalent incandescent, the current is reduced by a factor of 5–10 times, since the voltage is constant. One thousand LED lamps with lumen equivalents to 60 watts incandescent would use just 75 amperes. Even at 25 percent total harmonic distortion, the negative effect on the electrical system is very small.


While the health of human environmental and electrical systems is not to be ignored, the concerns are not difficult to address. The positive effects of reduced energy consumption (implying reduced energy generation and improving health and environmental benefits) outweigh the negatives when converting to alternative lighting sources.