The Ills of Using Artificial Lighting - Part 1
Making Us Ill More Than We Can Currently Comprehend
One of the greatest inventions of our modern era that is sadly robbing our health is artificial lighting. Artificial lighting is thought to be safer than burning candles or starting campfires for light sources, which, when misused, can cause a fire. Also, we can illuminate more space than ever before with artificial lighting, which leads to excessive light pollution, especially at night. We are supposed to be exposed to ample natural light during the day. We are not supposed to be exposed to excessive amounts of artificial light (especially artificial light that contains more blue light) during the night. Many people go to sleep in a darkened room with our cell phones shining brightly on our faces defeating the purpose of going to bed in darkness to help facilitate proper melatonin production. Excessive blue light at night dramatically reduces melatonin production and hinders sleep quality. What are the differences between sunlight and artificial lighting, how artificial lighting affects our health, and the optimal choices for artificial light?
Our Sun and Natural Light
Our Sun is a star with an average color temperature of about 5,900K (Kelvin). A sun emits electromagnetic radiation across most of the electromagnetic spectrum. A sun produces gamma rays because of nuclear fusion. However, high-energy photons are converted to lower-energy photons by absorption before reaching the sun’s surface. A sun emits gamma rays from solar flares, which are brief eruptions of intense high energy radiation from the sun’s surface. A sun also emits different forms of electromagnetic radiation, including X-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, and even radio waves. Finally, the electromagnetic spectrum has wavelengths measured in nanometers to differentiate the different forms of radiation.[1] [2]
Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by a sun and is composed of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. Sunlight is filtered by the Earth’s atmosphere and is a bright natural light and radiant heat source. Sunlight contains all colors of the visible spectrum, which is why it appears white. The sun's color temperature changes throughout the day, with it being around 5,500K at solar noon and 3,200K at sunrise and sunset. The visible spectrum is measured from three hundred and eighty nanometers to seven hundred and fifty nanometers (nm). Most of the sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface is from the visible spectrum. The color spectrum is made up of the visible colors of the rainbow and is also known as an acronym you learned in school, ROYGBIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet). The visible spectrum makes up the colors of the rainbow. Sunlight through sunrise, daytime, and sunset contain radiation from the visible spectrum. However, sunrise and sunset provide more light from the visible spectrum. Blue light from the visible spectrum is essential to produce serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine during the day. Serotonin is acetylated and then methylated into melatonin at night when we are exposed to darkness. Finally, our eyes and brain can distinguish colors from a mix of multiple wavelengths within the visible spectrum, including pink or magenta.[3] [4] [5]
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