Are led lights safe?

by brettloebel

Answer by Brett Loebel:

LED Lights are the safest of the most commonly used lights which include fluorescent, incandescent, and CFL. The diodes (LED chips) that illuminate or produce light can be touched while they are illuminated. That means LED light are typically *not* vacuum sealed.  The diodes are often left bare or covered by clear plastic. They are hard to break, will not shatter or emit harmful gasses. The bulbs remain cooler to the touch than any of the other lighting types mentioned above.

Another aspect of the safety of LED lights is that thy do not suddenly burn out the way other bulbs do. Instead they slowly fade out like a flashlight with dying batteries. Except the fade on LED lights is much slower. Hospitals are starting to use LED lighting over operating tables because, as mentioned above, they will not suddenly burn out.  In reality, they begin to fade immediately and at the same rate of fade throughout their lifespan until they are completely dark.

The "life hours" listed on all LED packages is what's known as the "L7" which means that the bulb will maintain 70% of it's brightness for that many hours. For example, if the L7 is 50,000 hours, the bulb will be at 85% of it's total brightness after 25,000 hours and at only 40% of it's brightness after 100,000 hours.

Are led lights safe?