Fluorescent lights are not as awful as they used to be:
Fluorescent lights are actually phosphor-coated glass tubes containing argon gas and small amounts of mercury. Electricity excites the gas, producing ultraviolet radiation that the phosphor converts to visible light. Early fluorescent lights flickered at a rate of 60 cycles a second. They also cast fewer colors than incandescent light, making everyone under them look jaundiced.
Researchers have linked all kinds of problems to the earlier generation of fluorescent lighting, including headaches, eyestrain, seasonal affective disorder and, according to one German study, stress. Workers under the lights were found to have higher levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenocorticotrophin in their blood.
Nowadays, better fluorescence technology that increases the cycle time, thereby eliminating flicker, alleviates many of the old problems. And new “full spectrum” fluorescent lights present a more natural balance of colors.