Abstract
Photobiology is a scientific field that involves biology, physics and chemistry in order to study the effects of optical radiations on living organisms. Lighting systems are sources of artificial optical radiations used primarily to provide light to the human eye in order to enable visual processes in the absence of enough daylight. The first photobiological effect of a visible light source is vision itself.
Photobiological safety refers to the undesirable effects of optical radiations on human tissues, especially the skin and the eye. These effects have several possible causes, according to the exposed tissue, the wavelength of the incident radiation, the intensity of the exposure and the duration of the exposure. According to these parameters, the effects can be temporary (reversible), or permanent in the case of severe exposures.
This chapter presents an overview of the knowledge concerning the photobiological safety of LEDs and products using LEDs such as solid-state lighting (SSL) products.
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Acknowledgment
This chapter is adapted from a review on health aspects of SSL products that was performed by the author in the context of the 4E-SSL Annex of the International Energy Agency between 2010 and 2014 (IEA 2014). The author expresses his gratitude to the experts involved in this annex for their contribution to reviewing this text.
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Martinsons, C. (2017). Photobiological Safety. In: Karlicek, R., Sun, CC., Zissis, G., Ma, R. (eds) Handbook of Advanced Lighting Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00176-0_51
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00176-0_51
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