Pam -
In relation to common sources of light in our environment, either "natural" or man-made, there is nothing to suggest that normally encountered high illuminance levels will be a problem. I base this comment on various safety/hazard criteria such as the ACGIH TLVs and the ANSI/IESNA RP.27 series as well as on the literature that supports these. However, staring at high radiance sources such as the sun is known to damage the retina.
Regards - Bob
Robert E. Levin, Ph.D.
Corporate Scientist
OSRAM SYLVANIA
71 Cherry Hill Drive
Beverly, MA 01915, USA
Phone: (978) 750-1594
Fax: (978) 750-1794
e-mail: robert.levin@sylvania.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Pambo1@aol.com [SMTP:Pambo1@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2000 9:26 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: Nuclear Power
Don,
Assuming you have been discharged, did the Navy "service-connect" you for a vision disability? (I was service-connected for hearing loss, and the VA provides my hearing aids.) Is there medical/scientific evidence that suddenly being exposed to bright lights can cause a deterioration in your vision? (I'm not trying to be sarcastic or anything--I really want to know.)
As Sandy pointed out, and as I was leading to with my simply analogy, there is ample evidence that noise exposure causes hearing loss. The fact that it does not cause hearing loss in everyone exposed to it does not mean there isn't anything to worry about.
In other words, the fact that Al was (I assume) exposed to radiation and is still healthy does not do anything to convince me that radiation exposure (whether high dose or low dose) is not dangerous. How many examples do we all know of people who smoked cigarettes their entire lives and didn't get lung cancer? But that doesn't mean there isn't a causal relationship.
Pam Watson
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