Increasing levels of light pollution harmful to health

(c) 2019 berni0004/Shutterstock - The amount of electric lighting at night has been increasing at a rate of almost ten percent annually over the past ten years. And this primarily has an impact on the 4.4 billion people across the world who live in cities. Excessive exposure to light at night not only has the potential to trigger sleep disorders, but has also been found to increase the risk of disease such as obesity, depression, diabetes and cancer. Eva Schernhammer from MedUni Vienna's Centre for Public Health and an international team of researchers have analysed and summarised various studies on the harmful effects of light pollution. Their review has just been published in top scientific journal Science. According to researchers, exposure to excessive amounts of artificial nighttime light can interfere with the circadian or biological rhythms that influence body functions by synchronising them with the natural day-night cycle. Implications include disordered sleep and impaired hormone production, which can lead to a number of chronic diseases.