LIGHT AND HEALTH. PART 2
Ch. Bartenbach
Abstract
This article is the continuation of the article “Light and health”, published in the Journal in 2018, №1. It deals with the influence of light on the hormones serotonin and melatonin. On the one hand, the importance of daylighting on serotonin production and our research work and results concerning this topic will be presented in this article. For the synchronisation of the inner clock daylight is essential. Our indoor society works and lives in spaces with a lack of natural daylight. The indoor (standard) illuminances may be enough for certain visual tasks but for the synchronisation of the circadian rhythm higher illuminances are needed. This can be achieved by light guiding systems as illustrated by application examples in this article. Light guiding lamella harvest the light and guide it to the reflective ceiling and therefore to the depth of the room. A conventional glazed façade is “repaired” by this light guiding systems. The more appropriate measure to improve daylight quality in buildings is another one: Daylight should be the decisive design parameter in the architectural designing process – new building typologies should be created. Additionally, in this process the knowledge about the avoidance of glare and the creation of visual comfort is crucial. On the other hand, the effect of light at night is discussed in this article. The melatonin secretion is suppressed by exposure to light which has a negative effect on our health. This topic concerns everybody, but especially people that are working during the night. Studies that aimed at preserving the melatonin production at night have provided insights into the necessary spectral distribution, the lighting system and the light and space atmosphere that is created. We have defined a melatonin-preserving spectrum for a laboratory research. The results of this research, which was carried out during the night and used high light with sufficient illuminance for the visual tasks was that with the melatonin light, production of melatonin was maintained to a significant degree. In further consequence we have implemented this melatonin sustaining light in our projects (e.g. Psychiatric Hospital Slagelse, Denmark). The melatonin light serves as “night light” for the patients and the stuff and should be applied to the whole building. Key words: serotonin, melatonin, night light, light guiding lamella
Language: english
Summary
Ch. Bartenbach
LIGHT AND HEALTH. PART 2 // Electronic periodical “Herald of the International Academy of Sciences. Russian Section”, 2020. Issue #1: 44—53