Low energy bulbs will save you money but at what cost?

Low energy bulbs and dirty electricity

We are seeing a dramatic increase in illness reported by people after the installation of low energy bulbs (CFL’s) in their home or office environment and now many GPs agree there does seem to be a connection between CFL’s and certain illnesses. This relatively new technology we know from our electro pulse filter research and development program creates dirty electricity like nothing else and this would seem to be still further evidence to support the dramatic linkage being made in the States by Havas, Stetzer and Millham, et al with exponential climbs in diabetes, autism, ADHD and even cancer and ever dirtier electricity.

Mainstream media is focusing on the mercury danger from broken bulbs and attributing sudden illness after CFL installation to the ultra violet light or mercury exposure, even though the vast majority have yet to break or dispose of a CFL and therefore experience any exposure to mercury from this source.


In our opinion it would seem clear that people are actually responding adversely to the increased levels of dirty electricity created by these bulbs.

Fluorescent lamps will only run on an alternating current. They also need a pulse of high voltage and heated filaments at either end to start the electrical discharge to illuminate them. After that, the current must be limited externally, otherwise too much would flow causing the lamp to burn out. In a traditional fluorescent strip light, this is accomplished by the starter switch and the choke (a coil of wire wound around an iron core).



Once started, the current flows through the tube as a smooth sine wave at mains frequency, which is 50 Hz (50 cycles per second) in Europe and 60 Hz in America. This makes the light flash on and off with each half cycle (i.e. 100 or 120 times a second) and some people, such as epileptics and migraine sufferers find this disturbing.

However, almost all CFLs use electronic control gear. This usually incorporates a switched-mode power supply in the base of the lamp itself. It rectifies the AC from the mains to convert it to DC and then chops it electronically into a series of sharp rectangular alternating pulses, which then light the lamp. However, the new frequency, which is usually about 40 kHz (40,000 cycles per second), is so high and the gaps between pulses are so short that the relatively slow response of the phosphors can fill them easily. Consequently, these lamps do not flash.
Biological effects
Despite the absence of flashing, many people have reported ill effects when using CFLs. Typical symptoms include dizziness, nausea, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears), headaches and various skin disorders. In particular, many migraine and epilepsy sufferers have found that they aggravate their conditions

The effects may be due to pulsed electromagnetic radiation.
The symptoms of exposure to CFL radiation are remarkably similar to those reported by electrosensitive individuals when exposed to pulsed electromagnetic fields. Since the lamps do not flash, it seems probable that they are a direct effect of the pulsed radiation on the brain and nervous system. The magnetic component of the radiation is the more dangerous because it can penetrate deep into the human body where it generates electrical voltages proportional to its rate of change. The rapid rise and fall times of these magnetic pulses can therefore give relatively massive and potentially damaging voltage spikes both in living cells and across their membranes.

Contamination of the mains
Poor quality CFLs often allow these pulses to leak back into the mains wiring to contribute to “dirty electricity” and increase the range of their effects to neighbouring rooms or houses. You should be able to detect these by holding a portable radio tuned between stations on an AM band near the wiring. This is because pulses, by their very nature, also contain harmonics (multiples of the original frequency) that can extend well into the radio frequency spectrum. If you hear a buzzing sound from the set, it means that pulses are leaking into the mains and you should replace the offending lamp by another of better quality.


Contamination of the mains to give “dirty electricity” can come from many sources, not just CFLs. Measurements made by David Stetzer in the library of an American school showed it to consist of hundreds of sharp spikes that could be up to hundreds of millivolts high, superimposed on each cycle of the 120 volt mains supply. Although the largest of them was
only a tiny fraction of the overall mains voltage, their rapid rise and fall times give them biological activity. The sharp magnetic spikes they generate penetrate living tissue easily, where their sudden changes in field-strength induce large voltage spikes.

Several studies by Dr Magda Havas of Trent University in Canada and various co-workers have shown that simply removing these spikes from the mains with “Graham/Stetzer” filters has resulted in improvements in the health, learning ability and behaviour of schoolchildren, reductions in the insulin needed to treat diabetics and an alleviation of the symptoms of electrosensitivity.