Can CFLs cause skin cancer?

[coastal4974]

Looks like it.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-compact-fluorescent-lightbulbs-damage-skin

I hope my stash of incandescents will hold me out till LEDs are better.

[John Rambo]

You realize this is the same kind of thing that happens when the sun hits your skin, right?

[JBnTX]

Anything demanded/recommended by the US government for the good of the environment, animals or little children is most certainly going to be dangerous to all three.

[coastal4974]

You realize this is the same kind of thing that happens when the sun hits your skin, right?

UVC? I know we are exposed to UVA but I dind't know that UVC exposure was an issue outdoors.

[John Rambo]

UVC? I know we are exposed to UVA but I dind't know that UVC exposure was an issue outdoors.

Yes, the sun puts out UVC. However UVC is blocked very easily. Unless you're sitting there with a CFL up against your head it isn't really an issue.

[coastal4974]

UVC, on the other hand, is usually scattered away by air, so we aren't usually exposed to it in sunlight. However, close to its source, like a CFL, UVC damages DNA.
"We saw significant amounts of UVC [from CFLs], which is not what you see in the atmosphere," said Rafailovich.

I would rather not fill my house and bath under CFLs that can be a source of "significant amounts of UVC".

Thanks anyway.

[The Fed]

Doesn't the glass filter it out anyway? I know it's effective against A. You can't tan sitting in a closed car.