LED street lights linked to prostate and breast cancer

Local councils warned to limit LED models as research shows increased risk to public health

Scientists believe they have found evidence of a “strong link” between Britain’s new generation of street lighting and common forms of cancer. They have told officials to consider limiting the roll-out of LED street lights after finding links between the technology and breast and prostate cancer.

SCIENTISTS believe they have found evidence of a “strong link” between Britain’s new generation of street lighting and two common forms of cancer.

They are advising officials to consider limiting the roll-out of LED street lighting after their investigation indicated links between the technology and breast and prostate cancer.

Many thousands of street lights have been converted to LEDS, which are cheaper to run and result in lower emissions, while around 30 per cent of motorway and trunk road lighting in England has also been upgraded.

However, analysis of 4,000 people in 11 regions of Spain established a link between heavy exposure to LED lighting and a doubling of the risk of prostate cancer, as well as a 1.5-times higher chance of breast cancer.

The nature of the study means researchers cannot prove a causal link, but they believe the “blue light” emitted by LEDS may disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm, which in turn affects hormone levels. Both breast and prostate cancers are hormone-related.

The team at the University of Exeter and Barcelona Institute for Global Health said the findings may also implicate the night time use of mobile phones and tablets, which also emit blue light, in cancer development. Dr Alejandro Sánchez, a leading expert on light pollution for more than 20 years, said: “Humans have evolved to need light during the day and darkness at night. As towns and cities replace older lighting, we’re all exposed to higher levels of ‘blue’ lights, which can disrupt our biological clocks. It is imperative that we know for sure whether this increases our risk of cancer.

“Scientists have long suspected this may be the case – now our innovative findings indicate a strong link.” Blue light is a range of the visible light spectrum emitted by most white LEDS and many tablet, phone and TV screens.

It has one of the shortest, highestenergy wavelengths and previous research has indicated that exposure to blue-spectrum light decreases the production and secretion of the melatonin hormone.

Melatonin plays a key role in regulating day-night cycles and has several other key functions – it is a powerful anti-oxidant and also has an anti-inflammatory function. There is no national policy to switch to LED street lights, but dozens of councils are moving away from the old, more expensive “orange” lights. Thousands of LEDS street lights are in use in Kent, Leics, Manchester, Glos and Surrey.

Earlier this month, health chiefs warned that LED street lights may disrupt people’s sleep and damage eyesight. Public Health England also raised concerns about the increasing use of LED lights on new cars.

The study was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.