On World Environment Day, we ask: Why nothing has been done to regulate artificial light at night? Is this from our policy makers sheer ignorance or apathy? If this is ignorance, should the awareness of light pollution not be more important and wider?
In short
- About 80% of the global population remains under the polluted sky
- Light pollution disrupts sleep and circadian rhythm that leads to metabolic disorders
- At night artificial light is associated with obesity and increasing risks of some cancer
About 80% of the world’s population lives under the sky-classified sky as “light-influence”, according to the world’s Atlas of Artificial Sky Luminance (2016).
In India, a direct cause between mild pollution and metabolic diseases is challenging, due to lack of controlled studies, there is enough global evidence that light pollution has serious health effects, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer and even Alzheimer’s diseases.
Clinical practice has consistently shown that hormonal imbalances, including diabetes and metabolic dysfunction, have increased manifold in high -risk areas of artificial light in the night (allen).
Experts have given the green signal to stress, disrupted sleep, and circadian rhythm imbalance, all of which are provoked by light pollution as prominent contributors.
A team of researchers from the School of Planning and Architecture, their study “Prakash pollution in India: the artificial night’s glow of cities”, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai were identified as the lightest cities in India.
They classified light pollution as a side effect of rapid urbanization, and researchers further stated how external lighting and increasing night-shining brightness increases significant dangers for both human health and environmental welfare.
obesity
A 2024 paper published in the Journal of Diabetes and Metabolism described light pollution as a “dangerous trend”, stating that the comprehensive use of Alan is emerging as a disruptive of natural circadian rhythm, which is prone to the behavior of unstable lifestyle such as poor sleep and irregular food patterns. Read full paper
German researchers Jorian Lamans and Ing Deopurte, were famous for their work on circadian biology and metabolism, found that urban light pollution is a major circadian disinterested, and an emerging risk factor for obesity.
Globally, artificial light at night is growing by about 6% annually, and researchers such as HLKER, Fonken and Nelson have acknowledged its impact on rising obesity rates.
Cancer and circadian disintegration
And this is just the beginning of loss.
A Spanish study found high risk of breast and prostate cancer in people coming in contact with high levels of artificial light at night. An Israeli study recorded an increase of 73% in the incidence of breast cancer in areas with high night lights. Alan is believed to have to tame melatonin, an essential hormone to regulate the circadian rhythm.
It affects the development of cancer through either hormonal disruption, or impaired DNA repair, or even cell proliferation, and increased chronic inflammation.
Missing in action: regulation
Streetlights, enlightened hoardings, neon signage, white industrial and office lighting at night, and domestic lights are known as major sources of light pollution.
While about 1 crore smart LED streetlights have been installed in Delhi, Punjab, Chandigarh, HP, Haryana and other states (6.71 billion KWH annual energy savings and 4.63 million TCO2 deficiency in GHG emissions every year), light pollution is largely irregular.
Not long ago, in April 2025, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that India has no statutory structure to regulate light pollution, exposing a significant policy difference.
Earlier, in December 2024, the Panchtawa Foundation also filed a case citing Alan’s devastating effect on human circadian health. The NGT demanded reactions from relevant ministries, but no concrete regulatory action has been released till date.
Artificial light at night can be invisible to the eye as a pollutant, but its effect on public health, ecology and climate is undisputed. It is time that policy makers took Allen seriously before our cities become even bright, fat and sick.
