Outdoor light at night linked to type 2 diabetes deaths
The association with type 2 diabetes deaths had a hazard ratio of 1.06—a measure of relative risk—in 6,325,139 Dutch adults.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Cohort study of 6,325,139 adults in the Netherlands, 2013-2023
- What changed:
- Type 2 diabetes deaths were more likely with higher outdoor nighttime light exposure (hazard ratio 1.06)
- The catch:
- Associations weakened when nighttime light was measured across larger areas around homes
- In the record:
- The 8th paper on artificial light at night with results in people; 27 on record in all.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Among 6,325,139 adults in the Netherlands, a register-based observational cohort study linked satellite estimates of outdoor nighttime light at home addresses to deaths during 2013–2023. The researchers adjusted for individual characteristics and other environmental exposures.
Higher light exposure was associated with deaths from natural causes, type 2 diabetes and obesity. The diabetes association was the most robust. Links with breast and prostate cancer deaths appeared only after adjustment for other environmental exposures. The researchers found no association with deaths from disease of the heart’s arteries or the brain’s blood vessels. Associations weakened when light estimates covered larger areas around homes. Several groups showed stronger associations, including middle-aged adults, women and people with low incomes.
Why it matters
Type 2 diabetes is an age-related health concern. These results bear on whether outdoor nighttime light should receive attention when studying environmental factors associated with deaths from metabolic diseases.
Caveats
Adults living in brighter areas may have differed in ways the statistical adjustments did not capture. The findings concern adults in the Netherlands, and the abstract does not specify the exposure contrast behind the hazard ratio.
The paper
Utrecht University
Environment International, Jul 25, 2026, Open access
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