The European Commission, in consultation with the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR), is inviting stakeholders to contribute to a public consultation on the pre-consultation opinion on health effects of artificial light.

In the context of promoting the wide-spread use of energy saving lamps and the phasing-out of incandescent lamps, the Commission had asked the SCENIHR in April 2008 to assess whether the symptoms of some diseases could be aggravated by energy saving lamps. In its following report, the SCENIHR presented an analysis of a wide range of lighting technologies and of associated potential health risks. In addition, it pointed at possible solutions to mitigate potential risks and identified relevant research needs.

The public consultation regarding this report will run until 30 September 2011 at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consultations/public_consultations/scenihr_consultation_14_en.htm

Following the consultation period, a scientific hearing will be organized in Brussels on 10 October (registration  at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/events/ev_20111010_en.htm ).