Consumer Health Articles: HEALTH AND LIGHT Page 1 of 3

HEALTH AND LIGHT Article Information

by: Ott, John, Sc.D. Volume 4 Issue 6
February,1983
Dr. John Ott is director of the Environmental Health and Light Research
Institute in Sarasota, Florida, and president of John Ott Pictures, Inc. His Search
hobby, time-lapse photography, which he began in 1927 led him to
creating the time-lapse sequences in several Walt Disney nature films. Title
The accidental result of this hobby was his discovery that different light
sources have remarkable effects on the structure of life cells, both plant, For:
animal and human.
search

As man has become more industrialized, living under an environment of Recommended Books
artificial light behind window glass and windshields, watching TV, looking
through coloured sun-glasses, working in windowless buildings, the Healing with Colour &
wavelength energy entering the eye has become greatly distorted from Light
that of natural sunlight. Much of the development of modern lighting has, GIMBEL, Theo
unfortunately, been toward the use of light sources of increasing
distortion.

THE LIGHT WHICH ENTERS THE EYE

I was able to observe in the course of my own experiments in time-lapse

photography that cells perform in an established pattern when exposed to
any natural sunlight condition. I soon found, however, that they broke the
established pattern and displayed many variations when different filters
were used in the microscope light. While plants were the first living things
I worked with, my quest soon took me to cells from animals. Here again I
found that I could create radical changes within the cells by changing the
colour in the microscope. I could increase their metabolic activity; I could
kill them. Working with live animals, laboratory mice, I discovered that
various kinds of lighting conditions could affect them physically. The lights
had a definite effect on their sex lives and life spans. The key to all this
seemed to be the simple act of light entering the eye. I found many
dramatic examples of changes in health when sunglasses were worn - or
taken away. Ordinary eyeglasses, windows in homes and automobile
windshields screen from the eyes most of the ultraviolet which reaches us
in natural sunlight. And depriving the human of that ultraviolet can
become a strong obstacle to improving health.

INCANDESCENT AND FLUORESCENT LIGHT LACK ULTRAVIOLET

The chart on the next page of the electromagnetic spectrum shows the
continuity of the different wavelengths pictorially rather than to scale. As
you can see from the chart, the ordinary incandescent light contains
virtually no ultraviolet, is lacking in the blue end of the spectrum, and
produces its maximum energy in the infrared wavelengths. The
fluorescent light operates on quite a different principle, but again it
produces light which is imbalanced in certain portions of the spectrum
and does not emit the ultraviolet light. (for all charts see John Ott's books)

FLUORESCENT LIGHTING AND THE C3H MICE

I would like to review the results of the experiments showing the effect of
different types of light on C3H mice. They were on a controlled diet, and
different lighting conditions were the only variable used. We used the pink
fluorescent (which is just a narrow part of the spectrum) to the more
complete full spectrum of the natural outdoor sunlight. The best result of
the experiments was that the life span of the animals was more than
doubled under full natural light, as compared to those under the pink
fluorescent light. Also there was a progression in their life span as the

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light spectrum was increased to that of the full spectrum. I had the
assistance of many of the scientific research people of nearby hospitals
and universities. In addition to increasing their life span, the mice under
the artificial light sources had more and larger multi-lobe tumours.

EFFECTS OF COLOURED LIGHT AND COLOURED PLASTIC

It has been noted that work areas lit by the pink fluorescents for a "warm"
effect have the opposite effect with the staff. Tempers flare, everyone
becomes irritable and generally difficult to control. When the pink
fluorescents are removed, within a week, congeniality and a spirit of
working together redevelops. These results seemed quite in line with the
preliminary reports on mink kept behind different coloured glass. Mink
exposed to natural daylight through a deep pink glass became
increasingly aggressive, difficult to manage, and in many instances
actually vicious. Mink normally are quite fierce, but when some of the
mink were placed behind deep blue plastic they became friendly and
docile. The same results can be applied to coloured eye-glasses; pink
tinted glasses can cause personality disturbances.

ULTRA VIOLET TRANSMITTING WINDOWS AND NATURAL

LIGHTING

Obrig Laboratories was the first to design a new building using full
spectrum lighting and ultraviolet-transmitting plastic window panes
throughout the entire office and factory areas. They have approximately
100 employees. During the entire Hong Kong flu epidemic of 1968-69,
not one employee was absent because of any flu type of ailment.

EFFECTS OF RADIATION

In our modern civilization, there are increasing amounts of man-made

radiations present in far greater intensities than the natural background
radiation. Serious consideration must be given to the cumulative effects
of so-called "insignificant" amounts of radiation from TV sets, micro-wave
ovens, micro-wave relay towers, radar systems, nuclear-generating
stations, atom bomb tests, medical and dental X-ray machines, some
types of computers, video display terminals, etc.

TV RADIATION

In a report in 1964, 30 children being studied exhibited symptoms which

included nervousness, continuous fatigue, headaches, loss of sleep and
vomiting. After further checking it was discovered that this group of
children were all watching television three to six hours during the
weekdays and six to ten hours on Saturdays and Sundays. The doctors
prescribed a total abstinence from TV. In 12 cases the parents enforced
the rule, and the children's symptoms vanished in two or three weeks. In
18 cases the parents cut the TV time to about two hours a day and the
children's symptoms did not go away for five or six weeks. In 11 cases
the parents later relaxed the rules and the children's symptoms returned.
Little or no consideration was given in the conclusion of the report to the
question of possible radiation exposure, the symptoms being attributed to
lethargy from long viewing hours.

Consequently we set up an experiment with a large screen colour TV.

One half of the picture tube was covered with solid lead, and the other
half with ordinary heavy black photographic paper. Two rats were placed
in each of two cages directly in front of the TV, and the set was turned on
for six hours each weekday and for ten hours on Saturday and Sunday.
The rats protected only with the black paper became increasingly
hyperactive and aggressive within three to ten days, and then became
progressively lethargic. At 30 days they were extremely lethargic and it
was necessary to push them to make them move. The rats shielded with
the lead showed some similar abnormal behavioural patterns, but to a
considerably lesser degree.

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It certainly raises questions about the multiple use of TV sets in hospitals,

hotels and especially TV show rooms. The greatest hazard comes from
the backs and sides of sets through which radiation penetrates from parts
of the tube. Few people would sit with their faces a foot or so away from a
set, but in countless motels and apartment buildings, a bed is placed
against a wall with the back of a TV set just the other side of it. Television
sets in hospitals are particularly dangerous. They are often watched for
many hours at close range on a bedside table in order not to disturb other
patients. Video display terminals pose the same kind of risk, with the
operator seated directly in front of the set. I have not had a TV set in my
home for a year since the results of my experiments.

***

Full spectrum fluorescent lighting was developed by John Ott in

conjunction with Duro-Test company. They are called Vita-Light.

Ultra-violet transmitting plexiglass is manufactured by Rohm and Haas

Company of Canada and is available at various dealers in Toronto.

Ultra-violet transmitting eyeglass, but not contact lenses are also

available. For information, call Consumer Health Organization.

References:
Health and Light by John Ott
Light, Radiation and You by John Ott

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