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    Epilepsia. 1979 Dec;20(6):725-7.

    Fluorescent lighting and epilepsy.

    Abstract

    Fluorescent tubes flash at twice the mains frequency (100 Hz in Europe). With aging, 50-Hz brightness modulation appears. A survey of tubes used in our institute showed that 42% exhibited brightness modulation up to a depth of 20% or occasionally 30%. The effects of fluorescent lighting on the EEGs of 20 patients with photosensitive epilepsy have been studied. In no patient did the 100-Hz flicker of normally functioning tubes elicit paroxysmal activity. In 8 of 13 subjects sensitive to 50 Hz, IPS paroxysmal discharges were evoked by 50-Hz brightness modulation, but only at modulation depths of 50% or more. It is concluded that as paroxysmal activity could not be elicited by normally functioning tubes nor at those depths of modulation occurring in practice, fluorescent lighting is unlikely to present a hazard to photosensitive patients.

    PMID:
    499117
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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