Circadian Light Research Center urges much-needed action now
BOSTON, April 27, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Many industries have been confronted with inconvenient truths about newly discovered harmful effects of their products or business practices, and lighting is no different. For years, scientific evidence has pointed to the harmful effects of blue-LED light at night – including obesity, diabetes, depression, and cancer. Yet the lighting industry has not faced up to the challenge. Fewer than 0.5% of lights sold today protect circadian health by altering their blue content across day and night.
In' Industry has what it takes to standardize circadian lighting' published in LEDs Magazine recently, Dr. Martin Moore-Ede comments that when faced with convincing evidence that their products are harmful to human health, industry responses typically fall into three categories:
1. Denial — with or without denigrating those who raise health concerns.
2. Acknowledge but ignore — stating that the data is inconclusive and needs further research.
3. Accept — and proactively develop a solution or replacement and communicate it effectively.
"The first two responses may be perfectly reasonable if the data is limited or questionable. However, if pursued too far, such strategies can result in asbestos-scale liabilities or draconian regulations, if the scientific community broadly agrees a health hazard exists, but is subsequently ignored," said Martin Moore-Ede, director of the Circadian Light Research Center. "Now is the critical moment when the lighting industry needs to step up and take action. The $100 billion global lighting industry should minimize its liability by smoothly transitioning to circadian-modulated lighting to protect end-user health and wellbeing."
A recent survey by the Circadian Light Research Center of 248 scientists, who have collectively published 2,697 peer-reviewed scientific articles on circadian clocks and light, confirms that human circadian clocks are highly sensitive to blue wavelengths, and exposure to insufficient daytime blue-rich light and excessive blue-rich light at night, leads to many major health disorders. The scientists strongly recommended that LED lights with high 460–495-nm blue content should carry the warning label "may be harmful if used at night" and that lights used in the evening (during the three hours before bedtime) should have as little blue content as practically possible.
In the LEDs Magazine article, Dr. Moore-Ede made five recommendations to help the $100 billion global lighting industry minimize its liability by smoothly transitioning to circadian-modulated lighting:
- Move quickly to contain the liability from the use of blue-rich LEDs at night.
- Hold hearings to bring in scientific expertise on the health issues.
- Translate the scientific input into actionable pragmatic conclusions.
- Draft an ANSI standard for the industry.
- Publish and commit to reexamine in five years.
"Clearly, the scientific community has reached a consensus on the need for circadian-modulated lighting. Now it's time for the lighting industry to harvest a commercial opportunity and greatly limit future liability by creating and managing standards which incorporates circadian modulated lighting before it's too late," adds Moore-Ede.
The development of blue-chip LEDs has revolutionized the lighting industry and enabled enormous improvements in energy efficiency and product lifetime. From 1% market share in 2013, LED sales have grown to over 80% market share today. However, less than 0.5% of these LED lights modify light intensity and blue content by time of day. While there is a need to limit the use of blue-chip LEDs to daylight hours, the good news is that LED spectral engineering has enabled the development of white light with little or no blue content for nocturnal use.
To learn more about circadian rhythms and light visit, The Circadian Light Research Center.
About Martin Moore-Ede M.D., Ph.D.
For over 40 years, Dr. Moore-Ede has been a leading world expert on circadian clocks and the health problems caused by electric light at night. As a professor at Harvard Medical School (1975 – 1998), he led the team that located the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the biological clock in the human brain that controls the timing of sleep and wake. He pioneered research on how circadian clocks regulate the timing of body functions. Since 2010, he has led the Circadian Lighting Research Center team that identified the key blue signal that synchronizes circadian clocks and developed patented LED lights, which provide circadian-optimized light across day and night based on comprehensive medical research. The effectiveness of these circadian-modulated lights in improving health and well-being has been validated by installing them in the 24-hour operations of Fortune 500 companies and hospitals. He has published over 180 scientific articles and authored ten books, including the best-selling books, The Clocks that Time Us, and The Twenty-Four Hour Society and he has a forthcoming book The Light Doctor: The Science and Solutions for Replacing Your Lights Now to Protect Your Health. For more information, visit https://thelightdoctor.com.
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Stacia Kirby, Kirby Communications, 206-478-5841, [email protected]
SOURCE Circadian Light Research Center
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