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Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

#11

Post by bunderbunder »

jackyinger wrote: post #7

Yes! I am not crazy! Seriously, do we really need lights that make the city as light as in the day? I'd rather give my retinas a rest.

I'm not sure that we do need them, at least not to the extent that they're used.

http://darksky.org/light-pollution/lighting-crime-and-safety...

Re: Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

#12

Post by Bud »

bunderbunder wrote: post #5

Seems like there might also be an opportunity here: - Install the ones that keep people awake along highways and suchlike. - Install lights that don't disturb sleep so much in neighborhoods.

No. The lights aren't effective at keeping sleepy people more awake in the moment. They're effective at disrupting sleep over time by disrupting the hormonal system.

They should be banned in favor of lower-color-temperature lights.

Re: Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

#15

Post by ianai »

Bud wrote: post #12
bunderbunder wrote: post #5

Seems like there might also be an opportunity here: - Install the ones that keep people awake along highways and suchlike. - Install lights that don't disturb sleep so much in neighborhoods.

No. The lights aren't effective at keeping sleepy people more awake in the moment. They're effective at disrupting sleep over time by disrupting the hormonal system. They should be banned in favor of lower-color-temperature lights.

The blue light also burns out retinae. It's been linked to cataracts. It seems like an industrial regulation is needed to me.

Re: Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

#16

Post by _0w8t »

While that may improve sleep, it may also made driving less safe. With blue light it is easy for eyes to focus. In fact there is a theory that significant increase in myopia during the last 100 years is caused by eye work under artificial light without blue color, like from ordinary light bulb...

Edit: I should have written "without blue light in spectrum eyes work harder". Basically any deviation from the spectrum of Sun have cosequences for eyes performance long term

http://www.eyedolatryblog.com/2014/02/myopia-may-be-reversib...

Re: Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

#17

Post by vvpan »

This follows tit-for-tat the story of every other street lighting development in the past. It gets invented, implemented, lauded and then disappointment sets in. At least according to a fairly exhaustive book on the topic called Disenchanted Night: The Industrialization of Light in the Nineteenth Century[1]

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/350025.Disenchanted_Nigh...

Re: Some cities are taking another look at LED lighting after AMA warning

#20

Post by criley2 »

bunderbunder wrote: post #5

Seems like there might also be an opportunity here: - Install the ones that keep people awake along highways and suchlike. - Install lights that don't disturb sleep so much in neighborhoods.

I thought this was already common around the world, say in Europe.

Where 4 lane / artery / highways get brighter, whiter (bluer) lights, while 2 lane feeders and smaller roads have warmer yellow lighting.

It produces an interesting nighttime aerial effect as the color indicates the nature of the street.

I can't find any source to corroborate so I'd love if someone with more worldly travel experience could corroborate.

I first became aware of the phenomenon playing Cities: Skylines, a European developed city builder game which features the multi-colored street lights in European skins.

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