LED Street Lights May Be Damaging To Your Health
According to the AMA, outdoor lighting at night, particularly street lights, should have a color temperature (CT) of not more than 3000 Kelvin (K). A white LEDs at CT 4000K or 5000K have been chosen to be installed in street lights in cities such as Seattle and New York. However, after these installations, many complained […]
Read MoreLED Street Lights: Worth the Risks?
“Recognizing the detrimental effects of poorly-designed, high-intensity LED lighting, the American Medical Association (AMA) encourages communities to minimize and control blue-rich environmental lighting by using the lowest emission of blue light possible to reduce glare. The AMA recommends an intensity threshold for optimal LED lighting that minimizes blue-rich light. The AMA also recommends all LED […]
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CCT Not Useful for Selecting LED Streetlights
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center (LRC) chimed in with respect to the American Medical Association’s recommendation to use Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) as a metric for selecting LED streetlights. According to the LRC, CCT does not tell the whole story. To predict the harm caused by LED streetlights, it is important to consider the […]
Read MoreAmerican Medical Association Warns LED Streetlights are Harmful
The American Medical Association (AMA) now warns that the blue-rich, white light from LED streetlights is harmful to people and animals alike. The AMA recommends that LED Streetlights with lower Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) be used instead of the more efficient 4000K fixtures. CCT is measured in degrees Kelvin (“K”). Link to Article PDF
Read MoreDoctors Issue Warning About LED Streetlights
According to the American Medical Association (AMA), “The first is discomfort and glare. Because LED light is so concentrated and has high blue content, it can cause severe glare, resulting in pupillary constriction in the eyes. Blue light scatters more in the human eye than the longer wavelengths of yellow and red, and sufficient levels […]
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New Map Shows the Dark Side of Artificial Light at Night
The greatest value of this study from Falchi and his colleagues may be the baselines it sets for policy debates about light pollution and any associated changes in the level of nighttime illumination. The atlas’s finding about the pernicious skyglow effects of blue-white LEDs, Longcore says, “is a message that incentivizing conversion to cheap blue-white […]
Read MoreLED Streetlight v. Wildlife
According to this article, LED streetlights also have an adverse effect on nocturnal wildlife. Scientists have found that migrating birds are attracted to unnatural lighting, which often results in injuries or death when they collide with reflections on buildings or other structures. High-intensity light pollution has also been linked to low survival rates for hatchling […]
Read MoreFiltered White LEDs Help Preserve Dark Sky
Astronomers seek relief from light pollution caused by high-energy LED streetlights. Filtering shorter wavelength emissions from the LED streetlight spectrum is a tolerable, but not entirely acceptable compromise. Link to Article
Read MoreSongbirds Exhibit Higher Stress Hormone Under White Streetlights
Free-living songbirds show increased stress hormone levels (corticosterone) when nesting under white street lights. But different light spectra may have different physiological effects as this study finds, suggesting that using street lights with specific color spectra may mitigate effects of light pollution on wildlife. Link to Article
Read MoreLED Streetlights- Erasing the Night Sky
By transitioning to light-emitting diode (LED) light bulbs — cities save a ton of energy, but as we are now learning, are also making light pollution worse. LED lights are so bright they block out more stars than more traditional light sources. Link to Article PDF
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