On April 25, 2022, the Biden administration moved to ban the sale of incandescent bulbs in the USA (45 lumens per watt or less).  This is likely just a first step towards a full ban on incandescent bulbs, so as a people, it’s time to stand up for the freedom of choice in how we light our homes.  Personally, I can only stand incandescent lighting in my home - LEDs, even the “warm” kind, give me severe eye strain, headaches, and completely drain me. 

This move is being made in the name of climate change, supposedly to curb 222 million metric tons of carbon over 30 years.  While I am an environmentalist myself, I would not place mental and physical well-being of humans and wildlife below energy savings, in terms of priority.  Besides, with LEDs containing rare and toxic materials such as gold, silver, arsenic and lead, which must be handled as hazardous waste, is any energy REALLY being saved?  Not to mention the fact that we have examples such as the Centennial Bulb, an incandescent that has been burning nearly continuously for over 120 years, which shows what incandescents would be able to do, had their development not been halted by the lightbulb industry in the early 1900s.

Incandescent bulbs, which I have consciously decided to light my home with, contain the full spectrum of the rainbow as well as near-infrared rays, which are important in cellular regeneration and eye function.  I experience no negative effects with incandescents, and in fact they have the effect of improving my mood.  

The Trump Administration overturned earlier legislation to phase out incandescents.  The Biden Administration has continued the efforts.  

Many with photosensitivity cannot stand the harsh ways of the LED or fluorescent, and prefer incandescents.  Fluorescent lighting has also been shown to negatively affect children with autism.  At least for these people, we need to actually expand the availability of incandescents (ie available in average grocery stores), not ban them.  Apply a carbon tax to them if needed, but I repeat, do NOT ban them!

We need to continue to have the freedom to choose how we light our homes, not just for us but for future generations.  

Links for further reading:

- https://www.anses.fr/en/content/anses-opinion-effects-human-health-and-environment-fauna-and-flora-systems-using-light

- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180425120242.htm

- https://www.monash.edu/medicine/news/latest/2022-articles/light-pollution-linked-with-cognitive-decline-in-a-new-study?fbclid=IwAR0NyDCxil3lwfeX8xjkLRWab0628VS63dW8onZcOnv_nJFpeAIz-Ev2gb4

- https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/rest/items/item_5014827_2/component/file_5014851/content

- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312320039_Caenorhabditis_elegans_as_a_model_to_study_the_impact_of_exposure_to_light_emitting_diode_LED_domestic_lighting

- https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07383?fbclid=IwAR32hdyCRnENdccv5XDpzxnXkMKtgn44-VmBg6KvYfdlPtYS9A_iPp7QXoI&mibextid=S66gvF

- https://www.pointsdevue.com/article/role-blue-light-pathogenesis-age-related-macular-degeneration

- https://www.centennialbulb.org/cam.htm

- https://health.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2019-02/scheer_o_011_0.pdf