Scientific reportsNov 16, 2024

Outdoor light at night linked to blood fat levels across China

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Mar 29, 2026

Abstract

A sample of 10,894 adults showed that higher outdoor light at night exposure is associated with a 20% increased prevalence of .

Increased exposure to outdoor light at night is linked to higher levels of LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and lower levels of HDL cholesterol.
Each increase in quintile of outdoor light at night exposure correlates with a rise in high LDL cholesterol (prevalence ratio of 1.10), high triglycerides (1.07), and low HDL cholesterol (1.11).
The prevalence of dyslipidemia increased by 6% with each quintile increase in outdoor light exposure.
The highest exposure group (fifth quintile) had a 20% higher prevalence of dyslipidemia compared to the lowest exposure group (first quintile).
Long-term exposure to outdoor light at night may be detrimental to lipid metabolism in adults.

Simplified

Previous studies have reported that a potential association between exposure to outdoor light at night (LAN) and diseases. However, there is no evidence regarding the impacts of outdoor LAN exposure on lipid metabolism in humans. This study aims to evaluate the associations between outdoor LAN exposure and the prevalence of , using a nationwide sample of 10,894 adults aged ≥ 45 years from 150 investigated sites across China in 2011-2012. Outdoor LAN exposure was assessed by using satellite imaging data. The prevalence ratio (PR) was calculated. The present study found that a per-quintile LAN exposure was positively associated with the prevalence of high LDL-cholesterol (PR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.04-1.16), high triglyceride (PR = 1.07, 95% CI = 1.03-1.12), low HDL-cholesterol (PR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.08-1.16), and dyslipidemia (PR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.03-1.09). The fifth quintile of LAN exposure was associated with a significantly increased prevalence of dyslipidemia (PR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.07-1.35) compared with the first quintile of exposure. Long-term exposure to outdoor LAN was positively associated with dyslipidemia prevalence. Public policies aimed at reducing light pollution at night, guided by the spatial distribution patterns, could lessen the adverse effects.

Key numbers

1.10

Increased Prevalence of High LDL-cholesterol

Per quintile increase in outdoor LAN exposure.

1.20

Increased Prevalence of

Fifth quintile of LAN exposure vs. first quintile.

1.11

Increased Prevalence of Low HDL-cholesterol

Per quintile increase in outdoor LAN exposure.

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Funding

Competing interests

Declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate All individuals provided written informed consent after being fully briefed and advised about the study procedures. This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Institutional Review Board at Peking University. It was conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.

PubMed

Outdoor light at night linked to blood fat levels across China

Abstract

Key numbers

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

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Abstract

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