Over the years, LED lights have become the lighting standard virtually everywhere in the world and in nearly every industry, replacing incandescent and CFL lighting options. Why? It is more energy efficient, lasts much longer and is cheaper. However, little has been said about the health and safety effects that emitted blue light may have. The rise of LED lighting can harm human and animal health, according to several recent studies.
The study. Research published in the journal Science Advances indicates that the main consequence of blue light for health is its ability to suppress the production of melatonin, the hormone that regulates sleep patterns in humans and other organisms. And the authors warn that in some cases that can lead to a variety of chronic health conditions over time.
a trend. Actually, blue light itself is not new. The sun produces blue colored rays and the old light bulbs produced some blue light, although less than that emitted by low consumption (fluorescent) or LEDs. However, LED is now undergoing rapid technological and economic development. For years, their use was exclusive to electronics but now they are found in most domestic, industrial and commercial lighting systems.
In fact, academics at the University of Exeter have illustrated the changing lighting that European countries use at night to illuminate streets and buildings. Using satellite images from the International Space Station (ISS), they found that orange emissions from older sodium lights are being replaced by white emissions produced by LEDs.
Light pollution. The researchers also stress that increased blue light radiation is causing “substantial biological impacts” across the continent from light pollution. They explain that in Europe the visibility of the stars in the sky at night has been reduced, which, according to them, “can have an impact on people’s sense of nature”. It also alters the behavior patterns of animals such as bats or moths.
Darren Evans, professor of ecology and conservation at Newcastle University, explained in this Guardian report that street lighting has reduced nocturnal insect populations. David Smith of the conservation organization Buglife noted in the same article that: “Light pollution can dramatically impact invertebrates, either in their daily lives, or even by reducing the populations of species that live in habitats lit by LED lights.” .
It can damage the eyes. Other scientific evidence in recent years has confirmed the “phototoxic effects” of short-term exposures to high-intensity blue light, as well as an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (vision loss) after exposure chronic to these light sources. Another American study from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta pointed out that blue light can damage the eyes, but only if the wavelengths are below 455 nanometers and the intensity is quite high.
Solutions. In some countries efforts are being made to try to reduce the impact of LED lighting. In the UK, authorities are already dimming lights during nighttime hours and changing the bandwidths of their LED bulbs to produce less harmful blue light using warmer bulbs. And experts recommend blocking blue light in the 415-455 nanometer (nm) spectrum in LED lighting for commercial use.
Images: Pexels / NASA