LED Lights... Harmful to health?

[YoungStranger]

i have no opinion on this but am curious to hear views from the experts and others on here.. Is there something in this or is it just reactionary FUD?

Doctors issue warning about LED streetlights - CNN.com

 

[Derek Kessler]

In a decade we're going to look back at all of these blue light filters and color-shifting displays and laugh at how silly we were.

 

[Waiting4M3]

A daylight LED at 5000K color temperature bugs the crap out of me in my house, so I can see AMA's point

 

[ecarfan]

I think the AMA position statement on LED streetlights makes sense. It's based on reasonable science.

 

[Denarius]

I'd rather the lighting on the road keep me awake, not help me fall asleep.

 

[AntronX]

I hate high color temp street lights. Have to agree with AMA on this one.

 

[neroden]

This is a tempest in a teapot. The previous lights (high pressure sodium) and the ones before that (mercury arc) were definitively worse in every regard than the LEDs. Sure, if we can find a way to pick better LEDs, great, but any LED is an improvement over the junk we were using before.

 

[GoTslaGo]

Blue light has a dark side - Harvard Health

Quote:

Study after study has linked working the night shift and exposure to light at night to several types of cancer (breast, prostate), diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. It's not exactly clear why nighttime light exposure seems to be so bad for us. But we do know that exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms, and there's some experimental evidence (it's very preliminary) that lower melatonin levels might explain the association with cancer.

End quote.

Personal note, we tried the high Kelvin LED lights in our kitchen, drove us all crazy. Wife described it as feeling like being caught in the UFO beams we all read about. Luckily we bought them at Costco. Returned them and switched to lower K lights (more yellow) which we love.

 

[Mookuh]

The article seems sensible. Lighting has a strong impact on human health & the psyche, so it should be chosen with great care, rather than with a "brighter is better" approach.
I feel that the title of this thread is a bit misleading however. It's not that LEDs are harmful, it's that light of a certain colour temperature, at night, is harmful. So maybe something like "Bright Light at Night harmful to health" or something of the sort.