low energy light bulbs

On 8 December, Energy Ministers of the 27 Member States of the European Union voted to phase out incandescent light bulbs starting from September 2009 with the higher wattage bulbs e.g. 100 watts. The matter will now pass to the European Parliament where MEPs will have the opportunity to suggest amendments and to vote by the end of February 2009.

I have genuine concern about climate change and the need to meet CO2 reduction targets. However, there are many ways to do this and adversely affecting the health and participation in society of people with sensory disabilities should not be deemed acceptable. The draft legislation contains no exemptions for people with a range of conditions including autism, migraine, lupus, ME and skin conditions, some of whom have found that existing low-energy light bulbs trigger and exacerbate their symptoms. People like myself are in the vulnerable position of not being able to scientifically prove this, so we have been campaigning in Europe for more research to be carried out before incandescent light bulbs are totally banned.

Now is the vital moment to write again to your MEPs and MP with the up to date information that I have included in the suggested pro-forma letter below. If you have time to personalise it, particularly explaining your own symptoms, please do so. Please note that there are attachments to this email which it would be helpful if you could forward on to the MEPs/MP. In most areas of the UK, we are entitled to write to at least 6 MEPs, who cover one area. Very good details of who to write to are available on www.writetothem.com or by telephone to Parliamentary Enquiries on 0207 2193000. Please note that if you write to them using this website you will not be able to send attachments.

Thank you very much indeed for your support in the past, both in writing letters and for financial donations. Financial contributions are much appreciated as, being electro-sensitive, I have had to pay my assistant for all computer work over the last 21 months of the campaign. Cheques are payable to "Right to Light" which now has a Committee of Management.

If you are able to forward this email to anyone else you think would be responsive or interested, please do so. That would be extremely helpful.

All the very best
Evelyne Muller
Co-ordinator, Right to Light

Suggested format for letter to MEPs/MP

Dear

URGENT/RE LIGHTING DIRECTIVE/EXEMPTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH SENSORY DISABILITIES

Despite my genuine concerns about climate change, I think it is extremely irresponsible that the Draft Lighting Directive, which has now been voted on by the Member States, does not contain exemptions for people with recognised light-sensitive health conditions.

Organisations including the National Autism Society, Migraine Action Association, Lupus UK, the Skin Care Campaign, XP Support Group and Right to Light have received regular complaints that the low-energy light bulbs that people have tried trigger and severely exacerbate their symptoms. The draft regulations, however, phase out all incandescent bulbs, starting in September 2009, assuming everyone can use double envelope CFLs or low-energy halogen bulbs. Incandescent bulbs need to remain available so that these light-sensitive people can use them in their homes and so that they can participate in the electrically-lit world outside their homes.

I would ask you to please take the time to consider this complex issue. Imagine that it is you that has such a disabling condition - how would your life at home and in the outside environment be affected? How would you prove it? Remember that light bulbs are everywhere in the built environment, including the homes of friends and family. The Department of the Environment (DEFRA) wrote to a constituent on 18 June 2007 "No member of society will be disadvantaged by the gradual change over".

As you will see from the organisations' joint response (attached), to the Draft Directive, it is clear that it does not meet the EU's impact assessment legal requirements, that

"health, safety and the environment shall not be adversely affected."

The EU commissioned the SCENIHR report to review the scientific literature on light-sensitivity and this report frequently comments on the lack of good quality primary research. It states that

"There is a need for additional experimental and epidemiological studies before final conclusions can be drawn regarding several of the conditions mentioned in the mandate."

These conditions include migraine, autism, ME and electro-sensitivity - migraine alone affects 70 million people in Europe - see attached Interim Review of the SCENIHR report.

Sensory disability is complex and not just a matter of the intensity of bright light. When using incandescent bulbs, people with some of these conditions require normal levels of lighting eg 40, 60 and 100 watt bulbs.

The attached joint response also refers to the rights of persons with disabilities under the UN Convention, which the EU has signed and which is part of the EU's Disability Action Plan. If you read the attachments carefully you will understand the view that the Draft Directive is inconsistent and incompatible with the disability policy of the European Union. I very much hope that low-energy lighting will eventually be available for everyone to use. However, the EU should not now take advantage of the fact that ordinary citizens cannot scientifically prove why they get symptoms from these bulbs. Therefore, the EU should ensure that proper clinical trials are carried out to establish the true extent of the problems and to demonstrate that there are alternative low-energy bulbs that can be tolerated by all groups. This research should include the testing of double-envelope CFLs on people with skin conditions where the SCENIHR says that these bulbs "largely mitigate the risk of symptoms". Conditions like XP and lupus are extremely serious and can result in fatalities (see attached photograph).

I therefore urge you to please ensure that people with sensory disabilities are not left as virtual prisoners in their inadequately lit homes. Please protect their needs and rights and ensure that this proposed irresponsible and premature ban on incandescent light bulbs does not become law. Do you want a Europe where only the fittest are entitled to basic human rights?

Thank you very much for considering these important issues.

Yours sincerely