Quick Dips

Shedding Light

Massey University's Department of Agricultural Engineering is looking at office illumination in a different light, studying the effects of fluorescent light flicker on visual comfort and performance.

The World Health Organisation estimates at least 30% of new or renovated office buildings may cause health problems for workers [see Quick Dips, Oct 95]. Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) symptoms include headaches, sore eyes, blurred vision, skin complaints, flu-like symptoms, lethargy and respiratory problems, all of which improve or disappear outside work hours.

Lighting-related symptoms are among the most commonly reported. Studies in Canada and England strongly indicate different flicker frequencies influence SBS symptoms.

Many lighting studies have been laboratory-based. The Massey study will measure eye-related symptoms, perceived lighting quality and actual work production during a month in working offices under different lighting conditions. These will include commercially-available high frequency tubes operating at 30 kHz. Preliminary evidence indicates these tubes flicker at such a high rate that human eyes can't perceive it.

Researcher Robyn Phipps says the adoption of results should be quick if the study shows some lighting combinations to be healthier than others.

"If high frequency fittings are more healthy, we expect a good uptake into the market because they're more energy efficient, although they're also more expensive."