Light at Night Might Be a Cancer Risk

Could electric light pose a cancer threat?

It might seem like the wildest of paranoid beliefs, but a growing number of scientists suspect it might be true. The reason: Turning on the lights after dark may affect a small number of "clock genes" that play a major role in controlling how cells live, die and function, these researchers suggest.

Specifically, the experts say, there is evidence that night lighting can help cause cancer by interfering with the molecular mechanisms that control cell death and multiplication.

A number of these researchers are in London this week for a five-day meeting where they are considering the evidence for a link between lighting at night and an increase in the incidence of childhood leukemia. The meeting, which concludes Friday, is sponsored by Children With Leukaemia, Great Britain's leading charity devoted to conquest of the disease. [MedicineNet Cancer General]

Posted September 2004 | Permanent Link


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