LIGHT EXPOSURE OF WORKERS IN DIFFERENT OCCUPATIONS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Udovicic ◽  
C. Varga

Twenty-four hours light exposure of employees in three different occupations was assessed for a working week during both summer and winter. Occupations being exposed to light at night and those exposed to low daytime light levels were represented by night shift working geriatric nurses and daytime working hotel staff, respectively. Their light exposure was compared to the light exposure of outdoor workers represented by refuse collectors. In winter, luminous exposure of night shift working geriatric nurses and daytime working hotel staff amounts to only 2 % and 12 % of the luminous exposure of outdoor workers, respectively. In summer, the respective values are 6 % and 21 %. This could lead to a desynchronization of circadian physiological processes in the human body.

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stine Daugaard ◽  
Jakob Markvart ◽  
Jens Peter Bonde ◽  
Jens Christoffersen ◽  
Anne Helene Garde ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective To assess light exposure during days with indoor, outdoor, and night work and days off work. Methods Light intensity was continuously recorded for 7 days across the year among indoor (n = 170), outdoor (n = 151), and night workers (n = 188) in Denmark (55–56°N) equipped with a personal light recorder. White light intensity, duration above 80, 1000, and 2500 lux, and proportion of red, green, and blue light was depicted by time of the day and season for work days and days off work. Results Indoor workers’ average light exposure only intermittently exceeded 1000 lux during daytime working hours in summer and never in winter. During daytime working hours, most outdoor workers exceeded 2500 lux in summer and 1000 lux in winter. Night workers spent on average 10–50 min >80 lux when working night shifts. During days off work, indoor and night workers were exposed to higher light intensities than during work days and few differences were seen between indoor, outdoor, and night workers. The spectral composition of light was similar for indoor, outdoor, and night workers during days at and off work. Conclusion The night workers of this study were during night hours on average exposed for a limited time to light intensities expected to suppress melatonin. The indoor workers were exposed to light levels during daylight hours that may reduce general well-being and mood, especially in winter. Outdoor workers were during summer daylight hours exposed to light levels comparable to those used for the treatment of depression.


2021 ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
David Jaynes ◽  
Paul Switzer

The purpose of this article is to provide background information and the current understanding of a less familiar cause of female breast cancer; exposure to ultraviolet light at night. Breast cancer is a common disease that causes significant morbidity and mortality in women. There are several risk factors for breast cancer, most of which are genetic and environmental in nature. An often-overlooked risk factor is exposure to blue light during night shift work, which decreases melatonin production. One of the many cancer-preventing properties of melatonin is to limit estrogen production. Increased lifetime exposure to estrogen is a well-known cause of breast cancer. Awareness of nighttime blue light exposure as a breast cancer risk factor by women doing night shift work and those exposed to nighttime light via smartphones and laptops, is essential information to know so that protective measures can be taken.


Antioxidants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
Maria-Angeles Bonmati-Carrion ◽  
Antonia Tomas-Loba

Melatonin is one of the most phylogenetically conserved signals in biology. Although its original function was probably related to its antioxidant capacity, this indoleamine has been “adopted” by multicellular organisms as the “darkness signal” when secreted in a circadian manner and is acutely suppressed by light at night by the pineal gland. However, melatonin is also produced by other tissues, which constitute its extrapineal sources. Apart from its undisputed chronobiotic function, melatonin exerts antioxidant, immunomodulatory, pro-apoptotic, antiproliferative, and anti-angiogenic effects, with all these properties making it a powerful antitumor agent. Indeed, this activity has been demonstrated to be mediated by interfering with various cancer hallmarks, and different epidemiological studies have also linked light at night (melatonin suppression) with a higher incidence of different types of cancer. In 2007, the World Health Organization classified night shift work as a probable carcinogen due to circadian disruption, where melatonin plays a central role. Our aim is to review, from a global perspective, the role of melatonin both from pineal and extrapineal origin, as well as their possible interplay, as an intrinsic factor in the incidence, development, and progression of cancer. Particular emphasis will be placed not only on those mechanisms related to melatonin’s antioxidant nature but also on the recently described novel roles of melatonin in microbiota and epigenetic regulation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy J. Nelson ◽  
Souhad Chbeir

Life on earth has evolved during the past several billion years under relatively bright days and dark night conditions. The wide-spread adoption of electric lights during the past century exposed animals, both human and non-human, to significant light at night for the first time in their evolutionary history. Endogenous circadian clocks depend on light to entrain to the external daily environment and seasonal rhythms depend on clear nightly melatonin signals to assess time of year. Thus, light at night can derange temporal adaptations. Indeed, disruption of naturally evolved light–dark cycles results in several physiological and behavioural changes with potentially serious implications for physiology, behaviour and mood. In this review, data from night-shift workers on their elevated risk for metabolic disorders, as well as data from animal studies will be discussed. Night-shift workers are predisposed to obesity and dysregulated metabolism that may result from disrupted circadian rhythms. Although studies in human subjects are correlative, animal studies have revealed several mechanisms through which light at night may exert its effects on metabolism by disrupting circadian rhythms that are associated with inflammation, both in the brain and in the periphery. Disruption of the typical timing of food intake is a key effect of light at night and subsequent metabolic dysregulation. Strategies to avoid the effects of light at night on body mass dysregulation should be pursued.


Author(s):  
V.I. Lemeshko ◽  
◽  
I.V. Ivanov ◽  
A.M. Geregey ◽  

Abstract: Filtering respiratory protection devices are widely used in industry and now in healthcare. The tests that these products undergo assess only the technical characteristics, without considering how the personal protective equipment affects the physiological processes of the user. The purpose of this study was to study modern methods of physiological assessment of the negative impact of the use of filtering respiratory protection devices on the human body. Analyzed domestic and foreign publications. The absence of a unified set of physiological methods for assessing the impact of filtering means of personal respiratory protection on the employee's body was established. This may be due to insufficient actualization of this problem both in Russia and in foreign countries.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 919-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghui Zan ◽  
Cong Li ◽  
Daoming Zhu ◽  
Lang Rao ◽  
Qian-Fang Meng ◽  
...  

Copper ions (Cu2+) and l-cysteine (l-Cys) in the human body always play critical roles in various physiological processes, while abnormal Cu2+ and l-Cys concentrations in the biological system lead to many diseases.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacco J.A.J. Bastings ◽  
Hans M. van Eijk ◽  
Steven W. Olde Damink ◽  
Sander S. Rensen

d-amino acids, the enantiomeric counterparts of l-amino acids, were long considered to be non-functional or not even present in living organisms. Nowadays, d-amino acids are acknowledged to play important roles in numerous physiological processes in the human body. The most commonly studied link between d-amino acids and human physiology concerns the contribution of d-serine and d-aspartate to neurotransmission. These d-amino acids and several others have also been implicated in regulating innate immunity and gut barrier function. Importantly, the presence of certain d-amino acids in the human body has been linked to several diseases including schizophrenia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and age-related disorders such as cataract and atherosclerosis. Furthermore, increasing evidence supports a role for d-amino acids in the development, pathophysiology, and treatment of cancer. In this review, we aim to provide an overview of the various sources of d-amino acids, their metabolism, as well as their contribution to physiological processes and diseases in man, with a focus on cancer.


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 0-0 ◽  
Author(s):  
Паньшина ◽  
M. Panshina ◽  
Беляева ◽  
Elena Belyaeva ◽  
Хадарцева ◽  
...  

The review highlights the issues of functioning of self-oscillating systems in the human body, the importance of resonance in the life, the conformity physiological parameters to the principles of fractals, the Golden section and Fibonacci dependencies. The authors described natural and forced vibrations. Conjugation biosphere Schumann resonance with the functioning of organs and body systems, in particular, the normalization of melatonin-serotonin balance is demonstrated in this work. The authors have identified the value of the vibra-tions and rhythms in physiological processes of locomotor and cardiovascular systems. The parameters of life were evaluated from the viewpoint of the theory of chaos and self-organization of complex systems.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document