Can plant grow lights harm people?

The rapid increase in the use of LED technology in horticultural lighting applications has also led to a discussion of potential human health risks compared with traditional lighting solutions. This is partly due to the different visual appearance (color and intensity) of light in such applications.

When asked whether light is harmful, you must consider three aspects of lighting: intensity, wavelength and duration. Strong light will always hurt your eyes, regardless of the wavelength and duration of the light. Strong light can cause skin burns, and “sunburn” on the retina can interfere with your vision.

In terms of intensity, the light that can grow good plants will contain enough energy to hurt your eyes. This is independent of wavelength and duration. With the increase of wattage and the number of lamps, the strength will increase, so it may cause injury.

For the wavelength, most wavelengths are harmless. the shorter the wavelength, the more destructive. Red photons are usually harmless (low intensity), while blue and ultraviolet wavelengths can cause great damage. Any light source that emits ultraviolet rays (fluorescence, metal halide, HPS) has greater potential harm to human body than the light source that does not emit ultraviolet rays (most LED Grow Light, but not all). Be sure to pay attention to intensity, because working under ordinary office fluorescent lamps will not be as harmful as growth room lighting.

If you are sunburnt when you work under a grow light, you can tell if the UV output is high. On the other hand, pure red light is harmless unless the intensity is very high.

One way to protect yourself is to minimize the time under the LED grow lights. The other is to wear protective glasses when working under or around the light. Another layer of protection is to keep the growth lights in the growth tent sealed in the light.