Health Concerns with Grow Lights?
 

Okay, please forgive me if this is a ridiculous question. I am a newbie!

I am very proactive about wearing sunscreen to prevent skin cancer and aging. I have had a few moles removed, and I want to reduce my chance of getting skin cancer within reason.

I have recently discovered that my orchids need additional sunlight. More than what is already provided by my SW window. I'm doing research about grow lights, and I'm wondering if it's healthy to have them in the household. Do they increase the risk of cancer, or contribute to additional aging? All my orchids are in my bedroom, which I obviously sleep and spend time in. Do they even need to be on during the night?

If there is a concern, is there a healthier type? I am considering getting two architect lamps and using CFL bulbs.

I have included a picture of my current setup. If anyone has any info on the health effects or setup ideas, I would sincerely appreciate it!

There's nothing ridiculous about your question! The use of grow lights should be extremely safe for you, even with the plants in your bedroom. I've never heard of any sort of radiant problem with them for people, and while you may spend a bit of time admiring your orchids you aren't going to be climbing under the lights with them. I could be missing something, but have grown most of 40 years using lights and neither have skin cancer nor glow in the dark.

In so far as running the lights, plants need a night to sleep just as we do. I tend to run mine for about 13 hours in the winter and move up to 14 in the summer, but am considering cutting back an hour on both extremes.

Okay! I tend to worry about nothing! I'm guessing most of the UVA/UVB radiation is focused on the plant?

The glass in bulbs or tubes absorbs the dangerous UV. LEDs are designed to emit certain wavelengths, and UV is not there unless that is the plan.

What orchids do you have? From what I can make out, you might be fine without lighting, what city/state are you in?

Your supplemental lighting should be very safe. As estacion seca said, if you use LEDs the light emitted will only be in certain wavelengths designed into the lamp; the only way they would emit UV is if the lamp was designed to do so.

You will want the lights off when you are sleeping anyway, further decreasing a very miniscule risk.

I have three cattleyas, two phals, a dendrobium aggregatum mini and a schoenorchis fragrans. I'm in RI, but the leaves on my cattleyas are pretty dark.

Thanks guys, I feel confident purchasing LEDs or a CFL bulb. Thank you! I've just joined this forum, and it already seems to be a great community. I think I'll be around here for a while.

It is a good question. I have wondered the same but I would hope that they would have a warning if there was a potential for cancer.

I love my fluorescent lights and have begun growing all kinds of other plants under them, too. :)

Yeah, lighting would certainly help in that case... the fact the fittonia isn't burning in that spot is telling, didn't notice till looking at pics on my cp just now... the catts and the den would need the most lighting for sure... what catts are they? some can handle less light than others.

UV is emitted from some fluorescent bulbs, but not a lot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluore...mps_and_health

White LEDs don't emit UV, but majority of white LEDs emit lots of blue light (especially the cooler white ones). Some people are concerned about the effects of blue light. Blue light influences many aspects of health because circadian rhythm can be influenced by blue light. So it might be better to avoid it at night if you are sensitive.

That's another question I had. Most of the LED lights seem to have blue/red in them. Can I use white LED lights to grow my orchids?

---------- Post added at 05:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:20 PM ----------

I have an "Otaara Hwa Yuan Bay 'She Shu' AM/OROC" a
"Lc.Tropical Chip 'Andromeda'" and a "Slc. Crystelle Smith 'Aileen' AM/AOS".

Also, that fittonia sure is temperamental! It loves very very humid conditions. It also gets wilted even when the soil is very wet.

That would be the primary reason I gave my red colored fittonia to my mother. I didn't want to deal with it dropping leaves and pouting anymore. It's probably dead now :rofl:. I have a green one that's just fine unless it gets really dry. Go figure :blushing:

I have some grow lights set up in my room in the daylight spectrum and I loosely (within 45min or so) follow outside daylight hours. Currently, they come on at 7am and go off at around 5:30pm. I adjust as day length changes, though generally leave the on time at 7am because any earlier and my boyfriend may kill me. I do use a timer - something that I can't emphasize enough for ease and regularity. Not all my light set-ups have timers, but the plants are probably happier in the ones that do because the sun rises and sets at the right time each day.

As already mentioned, blue-spectrum light has become a concern recently in relation to circadian rhythms and melatonin production. If you limit exposure and don't have them on for at least an hour before bed, you should be fine. This is the standard advice for all blue wavelength emitting lights including phones, tablets and computers.

Sure. You can grow plants in many different kinds of light as long as you have enough light. For example, incandescent light is considered inefficient for human eyes, but it is not too bad for plants.

People used to think those purple LEDs are efficient, but that is an old thinking. Top-end white grow light is as efficient now in terms of plant photosynthesis (and can be cheaper).

Hi DesignerofBeauty. Here is a very good page for you to look through, relating to protecting yourself from the deleterious effects of sunshine.

Home | EWG's 2016 Guide to Sunscreens

You can do particular product searches on there for ratings based on health considerations.

There is also an "app" you can use with on-the-go internet devices for (health hazard) ratings of many personal care products. It is the Think Dirty app.