Circadian-Effective Light and Its Impact on Alertness in Office Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Figueiro MG ; Heerwagen J ; Kalsher M ; Kampschroer K ; Rea MS ; Steverson BC
• Description:
  A field study was conducted at two U.S. federal government office sites and two U.S. embassies to demonstrate whether circadian-effective lighting (providing circadian stimulus (CS) values of CS >= 0.3) could be installed in office buildings, and to determine whether this lighting intervention would reduce sleepiness and increase alertness, vitality and energy in office workers while at work. Desktop and/or overhead luminaires provided circadian-effective lighting at participants' eyes during a two-day intervention. A pendant-mounted Daysimeter device was used to measure participant-specific CS values during the baseline and the intervention days. Participants also completed questionnaires inquiring about sleep habits, stress and subjective feelings of vitality and energy. The Daysimeter data showed that participants were exposed to significantly higher amounts of circadian-effective light while at work during the two intervention days compared to the baseline day. Self-reported sleepiness scores were significantly reduced during the intervention days compared to the baseline day. As hypothesised, participants also reported feeling significantly more vital, energetic and alert on the intervention days compared to the baseline day. The present results from four independent office environments demonstrate that lighting systems delivering a CS >= 0.3 can reduce sleepiness and increase vitality and alertness in office workers. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Circadian Rhythm Lighting Nervous System Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Circadian Rhythms Cognitive Function Intervention Effectiveness Lighting Systems Office Environments
• ISSN:
  1477-1535
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  171-183
• Volume:
  51
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063581
• Citation:
  Light Res Technol 2019 Apr; 51(2):171-183
• Contact Point Address:
  MG Figueiro, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 21 Union Street, Troy, NY 12180-3352, USA
• Email:
  figuem@rpi.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20150901
• Source Full Name:
  Lighting Research & Technology
• End Date:
  20190831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4222245811a984c0ab03b5094618d11bb2cfbc7d23802cdea82c3b9fb8eaa945bfae43043aca2d689b05ec5d80985dafaecbf476a10363de9bb154ca09a2ed19
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/222165/cdc_222165_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 731.09 KB ]