BLUE-WHITE LED LIGHTING
EXPERT COMMENT FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Should We worry about our health and wellbeing?
“Done well, LEDs could save the planet, in the sense of reigning in light pollution, Done carelessly, it could be devastating.
It’s not hyperbole to describe the global problem of light pollution as both unprecedented and astounding,” he said. “Beyond the energy issue, the main environmental impact of artificial light at night is on the health and wellbeing of practically every organism on Earth, including humans.”
John Barentine, resident physical scientist for the International Dark-Sky Association,
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Do councils have the expertise required to choose sensible public lighting?
“I believe LED is the future of lighting, but it’s a sophisticated technology being used crudely because of a lack of expertise. There’s a lack of understanding of the wider issues and a lack of skills within many local authorities.
In many cases it’s cheap and cheerful. It’s not even cheerful, it’s cheap and nasty. In fact it’s not even cheap, it’s expensive and nasty. And if residents complain, all they get back from their local authorities are cut-and-paste platitudes.”
Simon Nicolas – Engineer and Campaigner, Manchester, Lux Review 2015
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So much for democracy and our local council’s duty of care
The British Astronomical Society Commission for Dark Skies notes the following :
“The worldwide introduction of blue-rich LED lighting has involved almost:
· No environmental impact assessments
· No definitive studies on human health
· No democratic sanctions, investigation or review of likely effects
· No widely accepted policies or standards on beneficial luminaire design or installation
· No concern for its effect upon an already seriously degraded night sky
Had humanity allowed the introduction of agents, such as new gasses or chemicals, into the environment without applying precautions, then there would be outcry.”
What about the harmful effects?
“Our biological clocks are important. They interact with our body systems, changing our hormone levels and even modifying our genetic code. Natural light helps set our clocks to Earth's 24-hour day-night cycle. Exposure to artificial light at night disrupts this process, increasing our risks for cancers and other potentially deadly diseases.
Blue-rich light at night is particularly harmful. Most LEDs used for outdoor lighting, computer screens, TVs, and other electronic displays emit abundant blue light.”
International Dark Skies Association
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Glare impairs your vision
“Glare from poorly shielded outdoor lighting degrades your vision by decreasing contrast. This limits your ability to see. Aging eyes are especially affected.”
International Dark Skies Association
“Glare from nighttime lighting can create hazards ranging from discomfort to frank visual disability.”
American Medical Association
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Artificially lit surface of Earth at night increasing in radiance and extent
“We use the first-ever calibrated satellite radiometer designed for night lights to show that ………
from 2012 to2016, Earth’s artificially lit outdoor area grew by 2.2% per year, with a total radiance growth of 1.8% per year. Continuously lit areas brightened at a rate of 2.2% per year. Large differences in national growth rates were observed, with lighting remaining stable or decreasing in only a few countries. These data are not consistent with global scale energy reductions but rather indicate increased light pollution, with corresponding negative consequences for flora, fauna, and human well-being.
The report cites external research that shows how light pollution threatens nocturnal animals, plants and micro-organisms and is “increasingly suspected of affecting human health.” Light affects our body clocks and affects our sleeping patterns, and a lack of sleep is known to make us more susceptible to a range of health problems including diabetes, high blood pressure, and depression.”
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: Research Article (2017) Authors: Christopher C. M. Kyba, Theres Kuester,Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel, Kimberly Baugh, Andreas Jechow, Franz Hölker, Jonathan Bennie, Christopher D. Elvidge, Kevin J. Gaston, Luis Guanter
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“Blue light” of LED streetlights linked to breast and prostate cancer
The “blue light” emitted by street lights including LEDs, and commercial outdoor lighting such as advertising, is linked to a significant increase in the risk of breast and prostate cancer, innovative new research has concluded.
A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and involving the University of Exeter found that participants living in large cities with heavy exposure to blue lights at night had double the risk of prostate cancer and 1.5 times higher risk of breast cancer. This was compared to populations with less exposure to blue light.
Older lighting schemes emit a glow within the “orange” spectrum, but new modern lighting creates a bright “blue” light emission. The researchers found the bluer the light emission that people in large cities were exposed to, the higher the risk of cancer. The study also found that people who lived in homes with darker rooms, by using window shutters for example, had lower risk than those who did not.
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The Earth is paying the price
“[W]hile LEDs are cheaper than previous alternatives, they come with hidden costs. People tend to overuse them and over-illuminate areas, and without proper shielding, these much brighter bulbs cast large amounts of wasted light in all directions. What’s more, the inexpensive white LEDs often found in street lights emit wavelengths of blue light that bounce around in the atmosphere, potentially increasing sky glow. These wavelengths are also known to affect animals—including humans—more dramatically than lights emitting in other parts of the spectrum.”
Nadia Drake – ‘Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price’, National Geographic April 3, 2019
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Do we care about Our health?
“Whether it’s a computer screen, bright bathroom light, or intense street lights shining in our windows, indoor and outdoor electric lights interfere with those circadian rhythms by stunting the normal ebb and flow of melatonin. Obesity is one consequence of light messing with our nighttime physiology, as it is likely linked to persistently low levels of leptin. Based on a number of studies, low melatonin levels and circadian disruption are also thought to play a role in heart disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer—particularly breast cancer, for which Stevens says the data are particularly compelling.”
Nadia Drake – ‘Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price’, National Geographic April 3, 2019
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Say goodbye to the night sky
Dacher Keltner, a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, says that the star-splashed canvas rotating overhead on clear nights elicits a sense of wonder and awe that may translate into positive human behaviors. In laboratory studies, participants who’d recently experienced that sensation scored higher on assessments of scientific reasoning and were kinder, more altruistic, and less materialistic.
Nadia Drake – ‘Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price’, National Geographic April 3, 2019
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Why have local councils chosen the cheapest most damaging Lights available?
“Most importantly for light-sensitive animals, outdoor fixtures should use longer-wavelength LEDs rather than bright-white lights. Turtle hatchlings, for instance, do not respond to bulbs that throw a warm amber glow. That type of light is actually better for humans, as well, based on studies of how our bodies respond to the blue-white light common in newer TVs and smartphones.”
Nadia Drake – ‘Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price’, National Geographic April 3, 2019
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Why are we ignoring the advice of health professionals?
“In 2016, the American Medical Association responded to the growing body of evidence suggesting that intense LEDs are harmful to human health by recommending that communities change streetlights to “minimize and control blue-rich environmental lighting.”
Nadia Drake – ‘Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price’, National Geographic April 3, 2019
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Why do we not install more pleasant and less harmful lighting?
Consider the town of Jasper, Alberta. Nestled in the remote Canadian Rockies, Jasper is a haven for those who love the mountains, wildlife, and the outdoors. Since 2010, the city has hosted a Dark Sky Festival in the fall that brings in thousands of people. The town is now working with Lumican, a Canadian company that partners with the International Dark-Sky Association, to re-do all its streetlights. The town’s roughly 400 fixtures will be replaced with shielded Lumican LEDs set to colour temperatures ranging between 1,700 and 2,200 Kelvin, which efficiently cast an amber glow while limiting more harmful blue wavelengths.
“What caught our attention at first was how horrible all these new LED street lights looked; so glary, prison-like, and overly bright,” says Lumican’s Lara Mitchell. When she realized that such street lighting erases stars and damages ecosystems, the company turned toward fighting light pollution.
Nadia Drake – ‘Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price’, National Geographic April 3, 2019
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Do local authorities care about the natural environment?
“The uptake of LED lighting can alter assemblages of nocturnal invertebrates (Davies et al. 2017) and is recognized as a key emerging threat to biodiversity in urban ecosystems due to the greater emission of blue light by LEDs compared to incumbent lighting technologies (Stanley et al. 2015).”
MacGregor, Pocock, Fox, Evans Ecosphere - January 2018
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Trampling on environmental concerns
“Artificial light has the potential to affect every level of biological organization from cells to communities (Gaston et al. 2015), and may affect diurnal communities as well as nocturnal (Manfrin et al. 2017). Despite this, little attention has been paid to the potential disruptive effect that artificial light may have on ecosystem services provided by nocturnal organisms (Lewanzik and Voigt 2014). In a recent review, Bennie et al. (2016) highlighted the need to investigate the indirect effects of light on plants, mediated by herbivores, pollinators, and other interacting organisms.”
MacGregor, Pocock, Fox, Evans Ecosphere - January 2018
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Do the new light save money or energy?
“To reduce energy consumption, many jurisdictions around the world are transitioning to outdoor LED lighting. But as new research shows, this solid-state solution hasn’t yielded the expected energy savings, and potentially worse, it’s resulted in more light pollution than ever before.
This study is important because it validates with data two things we have suspected: that the rate of growth of light pollution continues upward on a worldwide scale, and that the migration of outdoor lighting from older technologies to LED isn’t having the anticipated benefit in terms of global reductions in energy usage,” John Barentine, the resident physical scientist for the International Dark-Sky Association, told Gizmodo. “The latter point is especially important because a number of governments have been convinced to convert their outdoor lighting to LED on the basis of promised reductions in energy usage.””
George Dvorsky – The Switch to Outdoor LED Lighting has Completely Backfired - Gizmodo – Nov 2017
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LEDS create significant increase in light pollution
University of Exeter community ecologist Thomas Davies, who’s not affiliated with the new study, says it’s no secret that artificial light at night is a globally widespread pollutant, but estimating the rate at which it is expanding has been technically challenging.
“This research overcomes many of these technical issues, providing reliable estimates of the global rate of expansion in artificial light pollution,” Davies told Gizmodo. “The numbers are truly shocking, given that we know illuminating the nocturnal environment can have widespread ramifications for the environment and human health.”
George Dvorsky – The Switch to Outdoor LED Lighting has Completely Backfired - Gizmodo – Nov 2017
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Poor choices reveal how little local councils consider environmental issues or the quallty of life of residents
“We could reduce the biological harm of our lights by ensuring that they emit as little short-wavelength (blue) light as possible, by choosing ‘warmer’ lamps.”
John Barentine, the resident physical scientist for the International Dark-Sky Association, in Dvorsky ibid Gizmodo 2017
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Engineers make poor decisions with no democratic oversight or framework policies
“We are making fundamental changes to the way we light the night-time environment, with potentially profound consequences for a range of species,” said Dr Thomas Davies, of the Environment and Sustainability Institute at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus.
Without appropriate management, our results suggest that the growing use of LED lighting will have impacts on the abundance of predatory invertebrates, potentially leading to knock on effects for other species in grassland food-webs.”
LED Lighting Could Have a Major Impact on Wildlife - University of Exeter Research report Feb 2017
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To light or not to light?
“Artificial lighting disrupts the functioning of specific organisms such as birds, fish, bats and insects. Observations have shown that too much artificial light, especially coloured light, can have a huge impact on nocturnal species, misaligning their circadian rhythm. Animal preference for nocturnal activity may be due to factors such as: avoiding predators, aversion to heat, safer feeding or reproduction. Also changes in the intensity of ambient light at night may lead to problems with reproduction, avoidance of suitable habitats, changes in seasonal migration routes, and to a reduction in numbers or even the extinction of certain species.”
By Dr. Karolina M. Zielinska-Dabkowska MSc. Arch, Dipl. Ing. Arch (FH), PhD, PLDA
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Into the unknown, and never mind the consequences
“LED lighting is predicted to constitute 70% of the outdoor and residential lighting markets by 2020. But while the use of LEDs promotes energy and cost savings relative to traditional lighting technologies, little is known about the effects these broad-spectrum ‘white’ lights will have on wildlife, human health, animal welfare and disease transmission.”
University of Bristol – Prof, Gareth Jones, Dr. Andy Wakefield
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Artificial lighting at night could be a reason for declining insect populations
“Climate change, pesticides and land use changes alone cannot fully explain the decline in insect populations in Germany. Scientists have now discovered that regions that have experienced a sharp decline in flying insects also have high levels of light pollution. Many studies already suggest that artificial light at night has negative impacts on insects, and scientists should pay greater attention to this factor when exploring the causes of insect population declines in the future.
Our overview study shows that artificial light at night is widely present and can have complex impacts in agricultural areas, with unknown consequences for biodiversity and crop production. Thus, light pollution should be generally considered as a potential ecosystem disturbance.“
Forschungsverbund Berlin - ScienceDaily, 19 June 2018.
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Lethal effects of short-wavelength visible light on insects
“Here, however, we found that irradiation with short-wavelength visible (blue) light killed eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of Drosophila melanogaster. Blue light was also lethal to mosquitoes and flour beetles, but the effective wavelength at which mortality occurred differed among the insect species. Our findings suggest that highly toxic wavelengths of visible light are species-specific in insects, and that shorter wavelengths are not always more toxic. For some animals, such as insects, blue light is more harmful than UV light.”
Masatoshi Horii, Kazuki Shibuya, Mitsunari Sato and Yoshino Saito – Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University - PubMed Central, Scientific Reports pub. 2014
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The devastating role of light pollution in the ‘Insect Apocalypse’
“A new study shows excess outdoor light is impacting how insects hunt, mate and make them more vulnerable to predators…
…Insect numbers have plummeted at an alarming rate due to a variety of factors, including increased use of pesticides, farming practices that destroy habitat, and industrial pollution. A new study in the journal Biological Conservation adds another major cause to the list: human-created light pollution.”
By Jason Daley - smithsonianmag.com November 25, 2019
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Blue-rich LED lighting — bright new future?
“Artificial lighting is undergoing a radical worldwide change toward high intensity LEDs. These appear to have many advantages: cheap, energy-efficient and easily controlled; but novelties in the environment often have hidden costs. Do potential risks to health, wildlife and the enjoyment of the stars caused by the blue-rich white types of LED lighting justify the rewards?
Atmospheric light scattering makes the sky blue in daytime but causes sky glow from artificial light at night. Violet-blue light (390 nm) scatters 16 times more than warmer red light (780 nm). Many LEDs produce harsh, often over-bright blue-white light, scattering high into the atmosphere. This can cause more sky-glow than previous warm orange (low colour-temperature) lights: the benefits of otherwise good downward direction of light may be negated by blue-richness, over-brightness and glare. The result will be the veiling of the night sky, as excessive light from road lamps reflects upwards; or emissions from private lighting, much of which has no directional light control, go directly into the environment and the sky from poorly designed lamps.
Other important negative effects of blue-rich light include:
Sleep disorders in humans and suppression of melatonin, a hormone vital to our well-being. The American Medical Association is deeply concerned and has issued guidance notes on colour, intensity and usage for the lighting industry. How many of the new installations comply to these recommendations?
Disruption of habitats and behaviours of wildlife, which has evolved in the context of a day-night cycle, and cannot function properly if night becomes day.
Security issues – the dazzling glare from poorly aimed ‘Rottweiler’ LED lamps provides a screen behind which criminal activity can go on unseen. These are anti-lights, concealing rather than revealing. Lights in secluded places are courtesy lights for burglars.”
British Astronomical Society Commission for Dark Skies
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Light and health
"On June 16 2009, the American Medical Association (AMA) voted unanimously to support efforts to control light pollution. Why has the AMA, a powerful and influential group, decided to support light-pollution legislation? They cite glare from bad lighting as a public-health hazard; the unnecessary energy waste; extra CO2 produced; and finally, the fact that all species (including humans) need darkness to survive and thrive.
“Nearly every organism on Earth (with the exception of some abyssal sea creatures and species that have evolved to live permanently in caves) has wired into it the day-night cycle caused by our planet's rotation. We tamper with this ancient programming at our peril.”
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We should choose our lighting types only when all negative effects have been identified
”All life is governed by 24-hour circadian rhythms stimulated by the light-dark cycle. The circadian system controls vital biological functions within our bodies such as alertness, temperature regulation and production of the hormone melatonin.
Poor circadian regulation causes loss of attention, memory impairment, failure to process information, and reduced cognition and creativity. Compromised biological functions and melatonin suppression lead to immune system suppression, increased likelihood of cancer and cardio-vascular disease, diabetes, metabolic suppression and obesity. Mood instability, anxiety and increased risk of mental illness have also been linked. Natural strong blue light of 2000 lux reduces sleepiness and increases alertness. Sleep is disrupted by relatively high light levels.
Many new LED lights emit blue-rich light. The CfDS (Campaign for Dark Skies) argues that the precautionary principle should apply: continued research is critical and we should choose our lighting types only when all negative effects have been identified.”
Professor Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Oxford University, Talk at the Royal Institution in June 2015
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Government experts recognise the need to strongly limit the short wavelength blue light
“Light pollution poses a major challenge to modern societies. Its effects worsen with the use of blue-rich light for lighting at night, both indoors and outdoors. Many aspects converge to make of blue-rich light a resource that must be carefully and sparingly used, and very carefully controlled. Wildlife and ecosystems, human health, and the natural nocturnal landscape are all threatened by blue-rich light. For these reasons we warn against the recent trends favouring widespread use of white light (unless coupled with a simultaneous great reduction of lighting levels).
We recommend restricting blue light at night, and using warm, yellow-hued light whenever possible. Spectral criteria should be introduced into outdoor lighting regulations, restricting the use of blue-rich light. Although some blue-rich sources offer efficacies that make them attractive from an energy standpoint, warmer light sources now have very similar efficacies, and much lower environmental impact. The design of modern lighting systems should not rely only on engineering or energy-saving considerations; environmental considerations must also be addressed, adapting not only lighting direction and intensity to the use of the areas, but also the spectral distribution of the light. Lamps that emit more energy in the blue than standard high-pressure sodium lamps should not be installed outdoors.
Technological solutions, both classical (sodium) and solid-state (amber LED, filtered white LED), provide warm, less harmful light with excellent energy efficiency. These products, should be required by authorities, and specified by engineers and designers, to preserve a night-time environment that is friendly to the sky, to nature and to ourselves.
On the basis of the above, the following minimum prescriptions should be used together to limit light pollution: - Do not allow luminaires to send any light directly at and above the horizontal. - Do not waste downward light flux outside the area to be lit. - Avoid over lighting and redefine the lighting levels for road lighting, lowering them substantially. - Shut off lights when the area is not in use. - Aim for a decrease of the total installed flux (in the same manner as other pollutants are being reduced). - Strongly limit the short wavelength blue light.”
SUPPORTERS OF THIS DECLARATION:
Javier Díaz Castro (Technical Office for the Protection of the Sky, Canary Islands Astrophysical Institute IAC, Spain). Fabio Falchi (ISTIL – Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute). David Galadí Enríquez (German-Spanish Astronomical Centre, Calar Alto Observatory, Spain). Manuel García Gil (Polytechnical University of Catalonia, Spain).
International working group - Regional Government of Andalusia
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The government must correct the irresponsible actions of local authorities and vehicle manufacturers
“A Proper National Light Policy is urgently needed as Blue-Rich White Light pollution is spreading across the country like wildfire, with harmful consequences for humans, wildlife as well sky glow. Street lights and vehicle lights with a far too high CCT (Correlated Colour Temperature) are being installed, well above the maximum 3000 Kelvin recommended by AMA (American Medical Association) and IDA (International Dark Sky Association).
PHE (Public Health England) and CPRE (Campaign for Rural England) are also recommending warmer colour temperatures, the former to prevent glare and discomfort, the latter to protect wildlife from undue circadian disruption.”
Campaign @ 38 Degrees by Tanja Rebel – To The UK Government: Halt Blue-Rich White Light Pollution
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Are the lights making you ill?
“Due to a combination of high colour temperature and so-called "LED flicker", modern lighting technology is making a significant minority of people ill, causing symptoms ranging from eye pain, headaches, severe migraines, dizziness and nausea to epileptic episodes. These people are confined to their homes after dark and during daytime they cannot use Public Transport or enter buildings that have installed LED lighting, which are often kept on day and night. This is unacceptable and needs to be properly researched, before more LED lighting is installed in public places.”
Campaign @ 38 Degrees by Tanja Rebel – To The UK Government: Halt Blue-Rich White Light Pollution
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Street light flicker is new hazard, says watchdog
FLICKER FROM LED street lights could be becoming a health hazard, the UK government’s official health watchdog for England has warned.
Public Health England says in its annual medical report, published this month, that the phenomenon is ‘of concern’.
Some of the LED sources assessed by Public Health England and others vary in illuminance at a frequency of 100 hertz. At the extreme, the LEDs switch on and off 100 times per second. ‘This is of concern for a number of reasons,’ writes John O’Hagan, group leader at PHE and a visiting professor in laser and optical radiation safety at Loughborough University….
…‘Local authorities have been replacing mercury and sodium street lights with LEDs. If this is done purely on the basis of energy efficiency and cost, it is possible to end up with installations that may not be fit for purpose.
High levels of blue light are known to cause damage to the retina in the eye. It’s possible to have LED street lighting that directs the light only to the areas that need to be illuminated, minimising the light that goes in the sky. They can also be provided in a range of colour temperatures, where warmer colours are likely to be more appropriate for populated areas’.
Ray Molonu – Lux Review 2018
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