JERUSALEM, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli researchers found that LED lighting causes health damage to livestock, harms their growth and reduces their milk production, the Galilee Research Institute reported Tuesday.
Economical white LED (light-emitting diode) has short wavelengths that suppress the melatonin hormone, known as "the hormone of darkness."
Melatonin has an important role in regulating the biological clock, the immune system, sleep and body heat regulation, reproductive system control and more.
Exposure to this lighting may also cause physiological problems such as obesity and increased risk of diabetes and cancer.
In the Israeli study, which lasted 14 months and included dozens of calves and hundreds of cows and sheep, exposure to white LED lighting was found to significantly impair the cows' milk yield and their food consumption's efficiency.
It was found that cows exposed to white LED lighting, as in many barns, had 10 to 18 percent reduction in milk yield and a similar increase in food consumption.
It was also found that calves exposed to white LED lighting consumed more food but did not show better growth performance than the control group that stayed in the dark.
However, unlike the cows, it was found that the effect of white light on the calves was long-lasting.
According to the researchers, this result has implications for humans, given the exposure of infants and children to white LED lighting, fluorescence and even mobile device screens.
This exposure can cause obesity, diabetes, changes in heart rate and biological clock disruptions in the future.
