Light Pollution may result in preterm birth increase: Study

Photo by Masaaki Komori on Unsplash

Light pollution due to skyglow may result in reduced birth weight, shortened gestational length and preterm births, according to a study. Skyglow is an artificial brightening of the night sky in a built-up area, such as a city.

The study is conducted by a team of researchers from Lehigh University, Lafayette College and the University of Colorado Denver in the US. The findings have been published in an article in Southern Economic Journal called, "Light pollution, sleep deprivation, and infant health at birth." It is the first study of its kind to examine the impact of skyglow on fetal health.

To determine a causal effect, the researchers have applied Walker’s Law, which provides a scientific basis to estimate skyglow. They also obtained a direct measure of the skyglow from the Loss of the Night (LON) project in which users collect data and submit to the LON website.

Preterm birth increases by 12.8%

According to the study, the likelihood of preterm birth rises by about 1.47 percentage point (12.8%) due to an increase in nighttime brightness.

Nighttime brightness is “characterized by being able to see only one-third to one-fourth of the stars that are visible in the absence of artificial light.”

The study also notes that a brighter night sky results in greater sleep loss.

Regarding the gestational period, it states that light pollution effects preterm and gestational length more in mothers who are black than those who are white. The study says that the difference between the two racial groups may be explained by inflammation, which is a potential biological mechanism underlying the link between sleep deprivation and preterm birth.

The researchers cite another study by Blaire (2015) which shows that African-American women exhibit greater inflammation in response to sleep disturbance than European-American women, and these effects correspond with length of gestation.

Suggestions

The study suggests using shielding LED streetlights to minimize the contribution of LED to skyglow. The researchers quote another study which states that cities in the United States use many times more artificial lighting at night per capita than cities in Germany. The comparison between the two developed countries shows that “light pollution does not have to be the “price” that always must be paid for economic development.”

Being essential to modern society, artificial light at night (ALAN) can disrupt a human body’s circadian rhythm and therefore become a “pollutant.” According to the researchers, though ALAN may help in increasing economic activity, it may be offset by ALAN’s negative externalities such as adverse health effects.