What is Photobiological Safety?
Photobiological safety is a concept that evaluates the potentially harmful effects of light on biological systems. Artificial light sources, especially those used in indoor and outdoor lighting fixtures, must have passed several tests to ensure that they do not harm people's skin and eye health.
Factors such as wavelength, intensity and duration of light are evaluated for photobiological safety.
EN 62471 and Lighting Fixtures
The EN 62471 standard addresses all photobiological hazards that ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths may cause to skin and eye health. This standard defines four risk groups in which lamps are evaluated.
Risk Group 0 (Exception Group): This group, with its meticulous evaluation, ensures that the lamp does not cause any photobiological hazard, providing a high level of safety assurance.
Risk Group 1 (Low Risk): The basic philosophy for this classification is that the lamp does not present a hazard due to usual behavioural limitations in an exposure.
Risk Group 2 (Medium Risk): The basic philosophy for this classification is that the lamp does not present a hazard due to thermal degradation or risk-averse response to very bright light sources.
Risk Group 3 (High Risk): The basic philosophy behind this classification is that a lamp can present a regular hazard if exposed to it suddenly or briefly.
The biological response of each organism to the radiation dose may vary significantly. Therefore, a comprehensive study comparing two light sources is crucial in determining the level of danger, underscoring the importance of your role in this process.
First, it should be examined how much blue light is emitted from one sample compared to another at the same color temperature. Once the results of this study are known, they must be compared with the reference source, and the so-called exposure dose must be determined.
Photobiological Damages That May Be Caused by Luminaires
Damage to Eyes:
Photokeratitis (corneal inflammation caused by UVB rays),
Photoconjectivitis (Inflammation of the thin membrane covering the inner surface of the eyelids and part of the sclera)
Cataract,
Corneal burn, thermal damage,
Retinal network injuries
Damages that may occur on the skin:
Reddening of the skin as a result of capillary engorgement,
Skin cancer
skin aging,
Mmelanin production,
burns,
Apoptosis (programmed cell death)
Photobiological Safety and Human-Centered Lighting
LED lighting fixtures, which we use in almost every aspect of our lives today, have the potential to emit tiny amounts of ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Therefore, avoiding so-called under-stairs fixtures that have yet to undergo any inspection or testing process is essential when choosing lighting fixtures.
We consider the photobiological risk classifications of the luminaires included in the technical specifications of our lighting design projects, which focus on visual comfort and human health, and prefer luminaires that have passed photobiological safety tests.
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