Page 43 - Lighting Magazine April 2020

“Blue light at night leads to glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, which could increase risk of diabetes.” —Dr. Martin Moore-Ede
day, and “depleted” at night. This is the rationale behind a growing trend of “no-blue” nighttime lighting products.
Circadian lighting is going mainstream. The healthcare and senior living industries are rapidly adopting circadian lighting. In addition, a recent ANSI standard from the American Petroleum Institute (API ANSI RP-755) defines fatigue risk management systems for personnel in the refin- ing and petrochemical industries. API RP-755 has added language that requires adequate light and, “...light sources at night should be selected to minimize circadian system disruption.”
According to Dr. Martin Moore-Ede, a former Harvard Medical School professor and advisor to the API Panel, “The only practical way to meet the new ANSI requirement of well-lit workplaces that minimize circadian disruption at night
is to use white light fixtures that are spectrally engineered to emit less than 2-percent blue content at night. Dim- ming the lights at night or using low color temperature (CCT) yellow lighting does not meet the requirement for well-lit workplaces. Conventional fluorescent and LED lights are far too rich in blue content and cause severe circadian disruption at night.”
Dr. Moore-Ede is also CEO & Found- er of Circadian ZircLight, a leading commercial lighting manufacturer
in this market headquartered in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Dr. Moore-Ede shares, “400-490nm
are our most sensitive wavelengths
for circadian entrainment
and disruption. We need <2 micro-W/cm2 at night and
Comparison of standard LED and Soraa healthy spectrums.
The Suntrac Dynamic A19 LED lamp from healthē by Lighting Science
>20 micro-W/cm2 during the day. A typical office provides 300-500 lux at tabletop. The above dosages of blue correspond to <2% blue at night and >20% blue during the day.”
He adds, “2700K and similar CCTs still provide too much blue at night. Our products provide <2% blue at night. They use 415-420nm violet pumps with phosphor conversion for real white light with very little circadian disruption. Furthermore, UL verified our products to be less than 2-percent blue at night. The only light that penetrates below 150-200 meters in the ocean is 475nm blue light. This is why our circadian system is evolutionarily
at peak sensitivity around 475nm.”
When asked if he thinks the no-blue trend
oversimplifies circadian lighting, since in- tensity, duration, time of day, user age, and spectrum all impact circadian entrainment and disruption, Dr. Moore-Ede says he is not concerned. “Blue light at night leads to glu- cose intolerance and insulin resistance, which couldincreaseriskofdiabetes.Peoplegethun- grier under blue light at night and gain weight,” he notes. Dr. Moore-Ede sees blue-depleted light at night and blue-enriched light during the day as the future and predicts growing interest globally in products that meet that
criteria.
Dr. Moore-Ede reveals, “Our options for
healthy light at night are an extremely yel- low light, white light dimmed way down, orblue-depletedwhitelight.Yellowlight isn’t liked and has poor CRI, [while] dimmed down white light still has nega- tive circadian impacts. Blue-depleted white light is the best option at night. [Between] 415-420nm enriched light provides more alertness without disrupting the circadian
No-BluE lighting
april 2020 | enLIGHTenment Magazine 41