Street lights in Europe emit more and more blue radiation

Earth’s nocturnal environment is changing at a rapid rate due to the continuous increase in artificial lighting. Artificial light emits an increasing proportion of blue radiation. Pictures taken by astronauts from the International Space Station between 2012 and 2020 reveal a gradual increase in blue-hued (instead of orange) lighting on European streets, as one city after another increasingly turns to LED bulbs that succeed greater energy savings.

But this positive side also has another more negative side, as the blue radiation of LEDs – which is also emitted by mobile phones, televisions and other electronic devices and artificial sources – can cause sleep disorders (due to suppression of the hormone melatonin) and other chronic health problems, according to a new British scientific study.

The University of Exeter researchers, led by Kevin Gaston of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability, who published in the journal Science Advances, reported that increasing blue light from LEDs has also reduced the visibility of stars in the night sky. and it generally has a negative impact on the sense of nature that people now have. Blue light also negatively affects the behavior of various animals, which has more general ecological consequences.

The countries with the biggest blue radiation problem are considered by scientists to be Britain, Italy, Romania, Spain and Ireland, while Austria and Germany have the smallest problem, which still light a large proportion of their streets with older type lamps (not LEDs).

RES-EMP

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