Environment
Urban Street Lights Could Be Disrupting Your Sleep
They’re “significantly associated with sleep disturbances,” say researchers.
The next time you’re tossing and turning at 2 a.m., it might not be because of work stress or that afternoon coffee. Street lights outside your window could be affecting your sleep, leading to fatigue and even bouts of late-night disorientation, according to new research.
Maurice Ohayon, who heads up Stanford’s Sleep Epidemiology Research Center, queried nearly 16,000 people over eight years on their nocturnal habits and quality of sleep. His team then looked at satellite images from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program to determine who lived near cities with more than 500,000 residents—areas where the illumination is up to six times brighter than towns and rural plats, they say.