Artificial light at night could be linked with an increased risk of blindness

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-01-17 03:00

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Outdoor artificial light at night could be linked to an increased risk of a kind of macular degeneration, a leading cause of irreversible blindness, according to Korean researchers. The team looked at 4,078 patients newly diagnosed with exudative age-related macular degeneration (EAMD), as well as 122,340 people without the disease, all over age 50. After estimating peoples’ exposure to artificial outdoor light at night using satellite data around their addresses, the team found higher levels of outdoor artificial light at night was linked to a higher risk of developing EAMD. While this kind of research cannot confirm light at night causes blindness, the researchers say the findings add to the body of research showing how much artificial light at night could be impacting our health.