You’ll find fluorescent lighting in homes, schools, offices, departments stores and a plethora of other locations.  But have you ever stopped to consider exactly what’s inside a fluorescent light tube?

For one thing, mercury.  In addition to endangering human health, discarded mercury products add to the pollution of landfills (J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2005;55:859-69).

When electricity transforms the mercury vapor inside a fluorescent tube to argon or neon gas, it produces a plasma substance that generates short-wave ultraviolet (UV) light.  The UV light, in turn, causes the phosphorous coating of the tube to fluoresce and produce light.

Studies suggest that fluorescent lights, especially older models, emit several types of potentially harmful radiation, at least one of which may up the risk of leukemia (K.R. Fehrman and C. Fehrman, “Color:  The Secret Influence,” Prentice Hall, 2004).

Our chiropractic office is committed to caring for the whole person, rather than treating symptoms in isolation.  We strive to teach patients how to prevent the chemical, physical and emotional causes of spinal dysfunction.  To this end, we teach patients about topics they may not have realized might be affecting their well-being, such as their physical environment and their lighting.