Are eco-friendly bulbs BAD for the environment? LEDs attract 50% more insects and could damage ecosystems
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Blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been receiving positive attention after its inventors were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics last week.
They use around 90 per cent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last for 100,000 hours compared with 1,000 hours for tungsten filament light bulbs.
But while they may be good for the environment, a new study claims that the discovery may a problem for insects, which are more strongly attracted to the LED spectrum of light.
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While blue LEDs may be good for the environment, a new study claims that the discovery may a problem for insects, which are more strongly attracted to the LED spectrum of light
The research, by New Zealand-based institute Scion, found traps placed near LEDs captured 48 per cent more insects than traps near sodium-vapour lights.
Sodium vapour bulbs, which emit yellow light, are commonly used in street lighting as they are more efficient than pre-LED lights.
Insects are attracted to both white and yellow light, but it seems they are even more attracted to blue light which is generated by LED bulbs.
Overall, the researchers caught and labelled more than 20,000 insects, with moths and flies were the most group of bugs.
They claim the attraction can be fatal, causing flies to be thrown off their usual path and into the jaws of predators, disrupting the food chain.
Shuji Nakamura (left), Isamu Akasaki (centre) and Hiroshi Amano (right), all born in Japan, have won the 2014 Nobel Physics Prize, for their environmentally-friendly blue LEDs. The lighting breakthrough creates more energy-efficient home lighting, and can improve keyhole surgery techniques
Another concern is that LED lights near ports could attract flying pests, such as the gypsy moth, that are accidentally transported by ships.
'The behavior of many animals is influenced by light in the blue portion of the spectrum. For example, insects have specific photoreceptors for blue light,' Stephen Pawson, an entomologist at the New Zealand research institute Scion, told Smithsonian.
'Thus large-scale adoption of 'white' lighting is likely to increase the impacts of nighttime lighting on all species sensitive to 'blue' light.
The tests showed that simply changing the spectrum of LEDs did not reduce their attractiveness to insects.
The use of LED lighting is set to increase. Estimates suggest the technology, used in everything from homes to billboards today, will be worth £50 billion ($80 billion) in 2020.
The research, by New Zealand-based institute Scion, found traps placed near LEDs captured 48 per cent more insects than traps near sodium-vapour lights
A major concern is that LED lights near ports could attract flying pests, such as the gypsy moth (pictured), that are accidentally transported by ships
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