Artificial Lighting, Quality of Life and Health

Abstract

Wasted light – harmful or merely an irritant? Surely it doesn’t kill anybody… Unfortunately, it does, as some victims of accidents caused by glaring lights are no longer here to testify. The quality of life of people affected by unwanted light from neighbouring premises is often greatly diminished, and there is an increasing body of evidence that intrusive light, especially into rooms where people are asleep or are trying to sleep, may be harmful in the long term. One correspondent (a non-astronomer) who wrote to the British Astronomical Association (BAA) described how he had suffered from lack of sleep for a prolonged period because of the domestic floodlights of two neighbours, which were on at most hours of the night and shone brightly through his bedroom window. His request for their modification having been politely but firmly turned down, he was forced to sleep in another room, but was still troubled by the light. The situation was aggravated by the fact that his job required him to get up at a very early hour. In the end, having changed jobs as a result of interrupted sleep and fearful for his health, he solved the problem at great personal expense by moving house. The BAA’s postbag shows that he is not unique in his predicament, and the organisation has even received letters from people contemplating suicide because of intrusive lights (Fig. 4.1). I was invited to be an expert witness in a light-intrusion case in Wales, and well remember the mental anguish of an elderly couple whose premises were massively floodlit by the light towers of a nearby sports facility: behind a thick blanket pinned inside their bedroom window, with the light off in the room, I could still read the small print on a credit card. The glare from the lights as I entered their garden was blinding (the old gentleman had earlier fallen over and injured himself because of this). Thankfully, they won their case and received costs and damages, and the offending lights were shielded and re-angled.