LED streetlights and the Pineal Gland

A few weeks ago the city I live in installed new LED street lights. They are much brighter than the old lights and living on a busy street I was glad to see them put in. Now I'm not so sure.

LED streetlights save energy, but could have some serious side effects

The hype around LEDs stems from two primary benefits. First, LEDs are brighter than traditional lights, and many cities feel that the increased brightness improves public safety. Second, LEDs are more energy efficient than earlier generation bulbs, bringing both financial and environmental benefits to converting cities.

Unfortunately, exposure to blue-rich light at night can lead to decreased melatonin secretion in humans. Melatonin is a hormone secreted at night by the pineal gland that helps balance the reproductive, thyroid, and adrenal hormones and regulates the body’s circadian rhythm of sleeping and waking. Lower Melatonin levels have been tenuously linked to increased risk of cancer.

Some of the cities in the Bay Area are using yellow tone LED lights as they dont seem to have the same impact as the blue tone LED's

Luckily for Bay Area residents, Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco have all chosen to install LEDs on the yellow side of the spectrum. The yellow-rich LEDs are still brighter than the streetlights they are replacing, but are less likely to disrupt either people or wildlife than blue-rich LEDs. “Most of the cities that have been doing a really good job [using yellow-rich LEDs] are in California,” says Parks

SO, what are the Effects of Melatonin Deprivation?? Well, there are quite a few issues that can arise such as:

Melatonin deprivation may speed the rate of brain aging, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.

Melatonin deprivation may raise blood pressure and lead to kidney damage, according to a study published in the November 2010 issue of the "Journal of Pineal Research

The new street lights installed in my town are blue toned and as someone who has Addison's Disease and Hashimoto's, this is very concerning because the light shines right in to my house. From now on I will be closing the curtains at night and contacting the city to suggest yellow toned LED streetlights.

The Pineal Gland

reply to post by Jennyfrenzy

There are two main colours of LED lighting available on the market;

Cool white (the nasty harsh blue light) and warm white (the more yellow type)

If you have any thoughts of buying led lighting, go for the warm white. Apart from what the OP has put in, the blue lighting upsets your biorythms and disturbs your sleep patterns. Blue light is associtated with the middle of the day and therefore the body is more awake and alert at these times. Yellow light is what is more dispersed at the end of the day and the body starts to wind down for sleep time.

A rather unfashionable way to deal with the cool white street lighting is to wear yellow tinted glasses. - It will filter the blue light and stop it from upsetting your biorythm.

Blue light and biorythms

blue blockers and biorythms

ALL artificial lights have adverse effects not just LED

While light of any kind can suppress the secretion of melatonin, blue light does so more powerfully. In an experiment, researchers exposed people to 6.5 hours of light—either blue or green. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much.

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BAck in 1914 we didn't have all these strange wi-fi megahertz frequencies buzzing through the airwaves.... the airwaves were quiet! I am sure that the human animal will survive by being able to adapt to this.. because one of the best characteristics of humanity is the overall adaptability of the species.

a reply to: SayonaraJupiter

While our species is great at adapting to different stimuli, why would we use something that can harm us instead of using an alternative with less risks. It's the color of the light that causes disturbances to our pineal gland.

You see, during the day, our brains can't get enough of light sources that rely heavily on the blue color wavelength such as energy-efficient bulbs and electronic screens (laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc.)

Think of it as light-based brain candy — those cool blues keep us alert, awake, on-the-move. But at night, when our bodies are naturally winding down, the blues are best to be avoided as they can disrupt natural sleep patterns and overall health.

Feeling Blue?

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

Nice thread. S&F