The World Health Organisation (WHO) champions World Health Day on April 7, 2024, as a moment to reflect on the significance of good health, encompassing physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Recent discourse has underscored the importance of physical and mental health, identifying three key factors crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle: exercise, diet, and sleep.
Lighting assumes a pivotal role in regulating sleep patterns by influencing the circadian rhythm, our body's internal clock governing periods of alertness and rest. Exposure to light also impacts the production of melatonin, a vital hormone for sleep. While our evolutionary background has aligned sleep with natural light cycles of day and night, modern lifestyles characterised by artificial lighting from sources like streetlights, office fixtures, and electronic devices profoundly affect sleep quality, disrupting circadian rhythms and melatonin production.
When light enters the eye, it triggers cells on the retina to signal the brain about the time of day, prompting the orchestration of bodily functions accordingly. While natural light exposure typically synchronises circadian rhythms with sunrise and sunset, the prevalence of electric lighting disrupts this synchronisation, affecting the brain's circadian pacemaker.
Poorly designed outdoor lighting exacerbates these issues, leading to misalignment between an individual's circadian rhythm and the natural day-night cycle, resulting in disrupted sleep patterns and potential health consequences. Ultimately, the presence of artificial light at night disrupts melatonin production, potentially compromising biological fitness and immune function. Recognising this link is essential for addressing light pollution and mitigating its adverse effects on human health and ecological well-being. PLANNING APPLICATIONS | Cencode