Human-centric Lighting

3D Bio-Optical Models Reveals How the Human Body Uses the Entire Solar Spectrum

History teaches that global changes to the public's environment mandate a higher level of scrutiny to ensure that we first do no harm. In "Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body" published in the journal Melatonin Research, Zimmerman and Reiter combine optical ray tracing from lighting and ESR…

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The article suggests how the interaction between melatonin and sunlight may play a much broader role in our health than existing circadian theory suggests. The 3D bio-optical models show that Near Infrared (NIR) uniquely interacts with the majority of adult cells and up to 100% of the cells in the fetus and young children. The work supports the premise that the body assumes that we are exposed to predominately NIR emitters (Sun, moon, fire) and that the body uses NIR to protect us from the damaging effects of the UV and Visible. The absence of NIR in visible only emitters (LED, OLED, CFL) appears to lead to higher oxidative stress and may provide a direct link to diseases that are on the rise in modern society.

The optics of the eye, womb, skin, and brain are shown to collect and localize NIR in some of our most sensitive tissues. The recent realization that mitochondria produces melatonin in virtually all cells in quantities that are orders of magnitude greater than the amount produced in the pineal gland supports instead the existence of a subcellular melatonin reservoir stimulated in part by NIR.

Ironically for the last 60 years, the public has been exposed to therapeutic levels of NIR by incandescent bulbs in their homes mediating the possible negative impact of fluorescents and supporting better sleep. This is no longer the case. The elimination of NIR from modern society is occurring not only because of visible only LED lighting, but also via low E glass (blocks NIR) and concerns over skin cancer reducing time in natural sunlight. In a sense a perfect storm has been created.

Based on this work, a review of the literature, and the lack of research into the biological impact of visible only emitters, the article suggests that it is time for the lighting and medical community to work together.

Free access to the article is available with registration at: http://melatonin-research.net/index.php/MR/article/view/19

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Human-centric Lighting

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Human-centric Lighting

Light in the Service of Health – Bringing the Science of Light and Health into Everyday Life through Evidence-based Communication

Light does far more than let us see. In this episode of the LED professional podcast, Manuel Spitschan and Laura Kervezee, co-chairs of the Light for Public Health Initiative, explain how light acts as the master regulator of the body’s internal clock: it synchronises our physiology with the day outside, shapes mood and alertness, and times the release of melatonin, the hormone that governs sleep. The science is settled enough to act on, so the initiative has distilled it into 26 consensus statements on how light affects the body and well-being, written as practical, evidence-based guidance for individuals, employers, schools and cities. A compact 14-minute briefing on why good light is a public-health question, and what to do about it. Based on the authors’ article in LED professional Review #112.

Human-centric Lighting

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