Effects on human health and the environment (fauna and flora) of systems using light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
Year: 2019
Type: report
Abstract: The objective of the expert appraisal undertaken by ANSES was to update knowledge on the health effects related to exposure to lighting systems using LEDs. The request focused more specifically on assessing the risks associated with exposure to LED systems for the general population and workers, distinguishing between the different types of applications of LED lighting systems and objects (domestic lighting, professional uses, vehicle lights, toys, screens, etc.) and taking intoaccount real situations of exposure. Moreover, a review of the potential environmental risks associated with these systems throughout their life cycle was requested.Pursuant to Directive 2005/32/EC on the eco-design of energy-using products, known as the “EuP” Directive, the planned withdrawal of incandescent lamps (spread out between 2009 and 2012) and conventional halogen lamps (set for September 2018) from the lighting market has led to a sharp increase in LED lighting systems on the consumer market, thus increasing the population's exposure to lighting systems using this technology. The scope of LED systems has expanded: it now includes not only a large number of applications for professional use, but also applications for public use including displays and signs, as well as certain objects and devices (toys, decorative objects, etc.), backlighting in screens (mobile telephones, tablets, televisions, etc.) and indoor and outdoor lighting.When publishing its first Opinion on the health effects associated with LEDs (ANSES’s collective expert appraisal report published in 20101), the Agency drew attention to the retinal toxicity of blue light. Indeed, LEDs are unique in that they emit light rich in short wavelengths: this is known as bluerich light. On this occasion, ANSES issued recommendations relating, among other things, to the placing on the market of LEDs and the provision of information to consumers.The potential health effects associated with exposure to the light emitted by LEDs are now better documented. Since the Opinion issued by the Agency in 2010, new experimental data, obtained in animals in particular, have been published regarding the phototoxicity associated with long-term exposure to blue light. New data have also been published relating to the disruptive effects of blue light on the biological clock, glare, and the health effects associated with temporal light modulation(light-intensity fluctuations in lighting that may be visually perceived depending on frequency).Regarding the possible effects on the environment, there are data that raise questions about potentially induced imbalances in ecosystems, which may have consequences for fauna and flora as well as for humans and human health.Adding or substituting artificial light to/for natural sunlight raises the issue of the potential health effects this may cause, due to the accumulation or modification of the lighting environment. Over the past few decades, humans have considerably increased their exposure to blue light in the evening with artificial lighting and backlights rich in blue light. Previously, the lighting systems used had tended to be yellow-orange in colour (candles, incandescent lamps).The update of the expert appraisal considered all of the effects on human health and the environment (fauna and flora) that could be associated with exposure to the light of LED lamps.
Source: HAL
Institutions: Université Paris Cité, Sorbonne Université, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment, Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d'Essais, Biologie des Organismes et Écosystèmes Aquatiques, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Inserm, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, Institut des Neurosciences Cellulaires et Intégratives, Université Paris Descartes, Aalto University, Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation
Language: English
Subfield: Ophthalmology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4403663482