Blue streetlights may prevent crime, suicide
December 10th, 2008 The Yomiuri ShimbunBlue streetlights are believed to be useful in preventing suicides and street crime, a finding that is encouraging an increasing number of railway companies to install blue light-emitting apparatus at stations to prevent people from committing suicide by jumping in front of trains.
Content from McClatchy-Tribune Information Services expires 90 days after original publication date. For more information about McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, please visit www.mctdirect.com .
Similar stories from PHYSorg:
Constant sunlight linked to summer suicide spike
May 07, 2009 |
not rated yet |
5
Blue light used to harden tooth fillings stunts tumor growth
Jun 24, 2008 |
4.8 / 5 (33) |
2
Does the internet really influence suicidal behavior?
Apr 11, 2008 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
1
Drink and drugs fuel Scottish suicide and homicide rates
Jun 16, 2008 |
1 / 5 (1) |
0
Study: Potential criminals deterred by longer sentences
May 18, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (3) |
2
lights in Canada were bluish, then they
changed to the more efficient sodium bulbs
which give off an orange colour. What goes
around comes again.
Only well-conducted experiments and mathematically proven formulas can lead to the truth. Rumors don't.
It has long been known that lighting absent blue wavelengths, such as sodium vapor lamps, cause nausea and other symptoms of distress.
Restoring blue wavelengths to area lighting is reasonable.
Actually, mathematically proven formulas are just a convenience to describe the truth, not the truth itself.
I wouldn't suggest that in this scenario. Lining up suicidal people by train tracks to see how many hop on in blue vs other lighting schemes is a little hard to justify. :P
It seems 'bluish' because we are un-used to actual white light.
I always feel better when entering one of my rooms that I have illuminated with real white bulbs.
Blue is the color of law enforcement world wide. There is a strong connection between authority and the color blue across most cultural lines. It's more likely that the ble lights inspire thoughts of authority, and performing acts contrary to authority seem like less of a good idea.
As an aside, I believe that blue light does not propagate as well as orange light, and thus produces less light pollution - a boon to stargazers. Now if I could just get my new neighbor to turn off the 200 outdoor lights he installed a couple of months ago - he leaves them on all night. *groan*
Exactly. What you are seeing is a campaign by lighting manufacturers to get municipalities to buy newer Metal Halide (bluish) lights to replace older Sodium (golden) lights.
Since the bluish Metal Halide is as harsh and unnatural as the Sodium they want to replace, the lighting industry comes up with this bogus "science" that blue light has so many benefits like preventing crime or suicide.
In reality, MH lighting is garish, cold, ininviting, disrupts human circadian rhythms and 3-4 times more of a "light polluter" that their warmer counterparts. (look up Rayleigh Scatter).
This is not science, it's marketing.