Light at Night May Boost Risk of Prostate Cancer

Men who are exposed to artificial light at night have a higher risk of developing prostate cancer, according to new research by University of Haifa scientists just published in the journal Chronobiology International.

The findings join previous research that has found nightly exposure to artificial light increases the risk among women of breast cancer and of nearsightedness in children.

The analysis was conducted by Prof. Avraham Haim, Prof. Boris Fortunov and Itai Klug of the university, together with Prof. Richard Stevens, a leading cancer epidemiologist of the University of Connecticut.

International Agency for Research data from 164 countries on nightly exposure among men to artificial light and cases of prostate, lung and colorectal cancer were compared. In addition, information on illumination at night was obtained from the U.S. Defense Department's weather satellite project.

Information about the size and population density of each country, along with electricity use, socioeconomic factors, the percentage of urban residents and other factors were used to calculate the average amount of artificial light to which the population was exposed at night.