Over the years, LED lights have become the lighting standard around the world and in almost every industry, replacing incandescent and CFL lighting options. Why? Why? It is more energy efficient, much longer lasting and less expensive. However, little has been said about the health and safety effects emitted by blue light. According to several recent studies, the rise of LED lighting could harm human and animal health.

Study. The research, published in the journal Science Advances, shows 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 it can lead to a variety of chronic health conditions over time.

a trend. Actually, blue light itself is not new. The sun produces blue-tinted rays, and older bulbs produced some blue light, although less than low consumption (fluorescent) or LEDs emit. However, LED is now experiencing rapid technological and economic development. For years their use was only in electronics but now they are found in most domestic, industrial and commercial lighting systems.

In fact, academics at the University of Exeter have exemplified the changing lighting that European countries use to illuminate streets and buildings at night. Using satellite images from the International Space Station (ISS), they found that orange emissions from old sodium lights were replaced by white emissions produced by LEDs.

Light pollution. The researchers also stress that increased blue light radiation is causing “significant biological effects” from light pollution across the continent. They explain that the visibility of stars in the night sky in Europe is reduced, and that this, they say, “could affect people’s perception of nature.” It also changes 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 reduces insect populations at night. David Smith, of the conservation organization Buglife, noted in the same article: “Light pollution can significantly affect invertebrates, either in their daily life, or even by reducing populations of species that live in habitats lit by LED lights.” .

May cause damage to eyes. Other scientific evidence in recent years has confirmed the “phototoxic effects” of short-term exposure to high-intensity blue light, as well as an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (vision loss) after chronic exposure to these light sources. Another American study from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta pointed out that blue light can harm the eyes, but only if its wavelengths are below 455 nanometers and its intensity is quite high.

Answers. Efforts are being made in some countries to reduce the impact of LED lighting. In the UK, authorities are already throttling the bandwidth of LED bulbs at night and changing the bandwidth of 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