Chris Bennett: Blue light still not in the clear

It’s often said that one of the biggest innovations in the history of mankind was the candle. Bringing light into the darkness has continued to be an obsession.

Our thirst for light is illustrated by the rise of candle and soap maker Proctor & Gamble. It grew to be one of the biggest conglomerates in the world on the public’s demand for light.

True darkness is now hard to come by, just ask any astronomer. Light pollution has been blamed for everything from simple nuisance, to disrupting ecosystems and wasting energy.

The last of these issues was thought to have been mitigated by the development of light emitting diode (LED) lighting. First found as red indicators in electronics LEDs have since been developed to render light temperatures suitable for illumination. These temperatures bring the LED into the blue part of the spectrum.