Nighttime blue-light LEDs cause health problems, AMA warns

A recently released report calls attention to the adverse environmental and human health impacts of blue-light LEDs, which are gaining popularity throughout the world for illuminating streets. The American Medical Association document recommends that engineers install LEDs that are dimmer or emit less blue light.

The AMA report details scientific evidence that nighttime exposure to blue-rich white light leads to increased risk for cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Blue-rich LED streetlights are five times as disruptive to the human sleep cycle as conventional lighting, according to two large surveys cited in the report. Recent surveys have also found that brighter residential nighttime lighting is associated with reduced sleep duration, impaired daytime functioning, and elevated rates of obesity, the report says. Some of the detrimental effects apply to other animal species as well.

Article:http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/magazine/physicstoday/news/10.1063/PT.5.1079

Reference:http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/6/e1600377.full

Corina Marinescu