How would you view a
man who's stockpiled a lifetime supply of old-fashioned light bulbs because he
believes low-energy bulbs could lead to blindness?
You might well
dismiss him as dotty. But the man in question, John Marshall, is no crank. In
fact, he's one of Britain's most eminent eye experts, the professor of
ophthalmology at the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. So
concerned is he that he has boxes stacked with old-fashioned incandescent
lightbulbs at home.
'I bulk bought
incandescent lightbulbs before the Government made it illegal to import them,'
he says.
'I can't give you an exact number, but I have
Nor is he alone in
his concerns about modern light bulbs. Another eminent British professor, John
Hawk, an expert in skin disease, is warning they may cause sunburn-like damage,
premature aging and even skin cancer.
He doesn't have any
low-energy bulbs in his house, explaining: 'I have lots of old-style bulbs I
bought in bulk when they were available.'
Incandescent bulbs
had been the standard form of illumination for more than a century. But
following an EU directive, the Government banned the import of 100-watt bulbs
from 2009. This was followed by a ban on 60w bulbs in 2011 and a full ban on all
'traditional' bulbs in 2012.
