Modelling the night sky brightness and light pollutionsources of Montsec protected area

We proceeded to the modelling of the night sky brightness of Montsec area (north-east of Spain), an astronomical protected area certified as a Starlight Reserve. We have used the hyperspectral version of ILLUMINA, an artificial sky brightness model. Ground based measurements for Montsec and other areas of Catalonia [15], [16], including both photometric and spectroscopic data, has been used to fit and evaluate the input parameters of the model. In this first modelling attempt, Lleida, the biggest city in the area, has been considered as the unique source of light pollution. In 2014 there was an update of the lighting infrastructure in Lleida. A detailed comparison of the sky brightness before and after the change is shown in order to measure the effects that different kind of lamps can produce. This information could be used to plan for future updates and improvements of the lighting systems in the area.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain (MCC-Spain Study)

[EN] Background: Night shift work, exposure to light at night (ALAN) and circadian disruption may increase the risk of hormone-dependent cancers. Objectives: We evaluated the association of exposure to ALAN during sleeping time with breast and prostate cancer in a population based multicase–control study (MCC-Spain), among subjects who had never worked at night. We evaluated chronotype, a characteristic that may relate to adaptation to light at night. Methods: We enrolled 1,219 breast cancer cases, 1,385 female controls, 623 prostate cancer cases, and 879 male controls from 11 Spanish regions in 2008–2013. Indoor ALAN information was obtained through questionnaires. Outdoor ALAN was analyzed using images from the International Space Station (ISS) available for Barcelona and Madrid for 2012–2013, including data of remotely sensed upward light intensity and blue light spectrum information for each geocoded longest residence of each MCC-Spain subject. Results: Among Barcelona and Madrid participants with information on both indoor and outdoor ALAN, exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue light spectrum was associated with breast cancer [adjusted odds ratio (OR) for highest vs. lowest tertile, OR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.17] and prostate cancer (OR=2.05; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.03). In contrast, those exposed to the highest versus lowest intensity of outdoor ALAN were more likely to be controls than cases, particularly for prostate cancer. Compared with those who reported sleeping in total darkness, men who slept in “quite illuminated” bedrooms had a higher risk of prostate cancer (OR=2.79; 95% CI: 1.55, 5.04), whereas women had a slightly lower risk of breast cancer (OR=0.77; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.51). Conclusion: Both prostate and breast cancer were associated with high estimated exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue-enriched light spectrumS

Modelling the night sky brightness and light pollutionsources of Montsec protected area

We proceeded to the modelling of the night sky brightness of Montsec area (north-east of Spain), an astronomical protected area certified as a Starlight Reserve. We have used the hyperspectral version of ILLUMINA, an artificial sky brightness model. Ground based measurements for Montsec and other areas of Catalonia [15], [16], including both photometric and spectroscopic data, has been used to fit and evaluate the input parameters of the model. In this first modelling attempt, Lleida, the biggest city in the area, has been considered as the unique source of light pollution. In 2014 there was an update of the lighting infrastructure in Lleida. A detailed comparison of the sky brightness before and after the change is shown in order to measure the effects that different kind of lamps can produce. This information could be used to plan for future updates and improvements of the lighting systems in the area.Peer Reviewe

Assessing light pollution in vast areas: zenith sky brightness maps of Catalonia

Zenith sky brightness maps in the V and B bands of the region of Catalonia are presented in this paper. For creating them we have used the light pollution numerical model Illumina v2. The maps have a sampling of km for the whole region with an improved resolution of km for one of the provinces within Catalonia, Tarragona. Before creating the final maps, the methodology was tested successfully by comparing the computed values to measurements in nineteen different locations spread out throughout the territory. The resulting maps have been compared to the zenith sky brightness world atlas and also to Sky Quality Meter (SQM) dynamic measurements. When comparing to measurements we found small differences mainly due to mismatching in the location of the points studied, and also due to differences in the natural sky brightness and atmospheric content. In the comparison to the world atlas some differences were expected as we are taking into account the blocking effect of topography and obstacles, and also due to a more precise light sources characterization. The results of this work confirm the conclusion found in other studies that the minimum sampling for studying sky brightness fine details is of km. However, a sampling of km is interesting when studying general trends, mainly for vast areas, due to the reduction of the time required to create the maps.We applied the sequence-determines-credit approach for the sequence of authors [26]. Hector Linares Arroyo thanks the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologies along with the Canadian Space Agency and the Generalitat de Catalunya for supporting this research. M. Aubé thanks Fonds de recherche du Québec - Nature et technologies for their support. Part of the high performance computing resources required for this work was provided by Calcul Québec and Compute Canada through M. Aubé’s affiliations to these organisms. Generalitat de Catalunya has funded the map of Tarragona and the evaluation of results, as well as has provided information on SQM, SQC and ASTMON measurements, and the inventory of some cities.Postprint (author's final draft

Evaluating the association between artificial light-at-night exposure and breast and prostate cancer risk in Spain (MCC-Spain study).

BACKGROUND: Night shift work, exposure to light at night (ALAN) and circadian disruption may increase the risk of hormone-dependent cancers. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the association of exposure to ALAN during sleeping time with breast and prostate cancer in a population based multicase-control study (MCC-Spain), among subjects who had never worked at night. We evaluated chronotype, a characteristic that may relate to adaptation to light at night. METHODS: We enrolled 1,219 breast cancer cases, 1,385 female controls, 623 prostate cancer cases, and 879 male controls from 11 Spanish regions in 2008-2013. Indoor ALAN information was obtained through questionnaires. Outdoor ALAN was analyzed using images from the International Space Station (ISS) available for Barcelona and Madrid for 2012-2013, including data of remotely sensed upward light intensity and blue light spectrum information for each geocoded longest residence of each MCC-Spain subject. RESULTS: Among Barcelona and Madrid participants with information on both indoor and outdoor ALAN, exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue light spectrum was associated with breast cancer [adjusted odds ratio (OR) for highest vs. lowest tertile, OR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.17] and prostate cancer (OR=2.05; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.03). In contrast, those exposed to the highest versus lowest intensity of outdoor ALAN were more likely to be controls than cases, particularly for prostate cancer. Compared with those who reported sleeping in total darkness, men who slept in "quite illuminated" bedrooms had a higher risk of prostate cancer (OR=2.79; 95% CI: 1.55, 5.04), whereas women had a slightly lower risk of breast cancer (OR=0.77; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.51). CONCLUSION: Both prostate and breast cancer were associated with high estimated exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue-enriched light spectrum. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1837.The study was partially funded by the Accion Transversal del Cancer, approved by the Spanish Ministry Council on 11 October 2007, by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PS09/00773-Cantabria, PS09/01286-León, PS09/01903-Valencia, PS09/02078-Huelva, PS09/01662-Granada, PI11/01889-FEDER, PI11/02213, PI12/00488, PI12/00265, PI12/01270, PI12/00715, PI14/0613), by the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09), by the ICGC International Cancer Genome Consortium CLL [the ICGC CLL-Genome Project is funded by Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) through the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and Red Temática de Investigación del Cáncer (RTICC) del ISCIII (RD12/0036/0036)], by the Junta de Castilla y León (LE22A10-2), by the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía (PI-0571-2009, PI-0306-2011, salud201200057018tra), by the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana (AP_061/10), by the Regional Government of the Basque Country, by the Consejería de Sanidad de la Región de Murcia, by the European Commission grants FOOD-CT-2006-036224-HIWATE, by the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation, by the Catalan Government–Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) grants 2014SGR647 and 2014SGR850, by the Fundación Caja de Ahorros de Asturias, and by the University of Oviedo. ISGlobal is a member of the Centres de Recerca de Catalunya (CERCA) Programme, Generalitat de Catalunya. This research was also supported in part by the STARS4ALL project funded by the H2020-ICT-2015-688135 program of the European Union, the ORISON project funded by the H2020-INFRASUPP-2015-2 program of the European Union, and through the resources of researchers and collaborators of the Cities at Night project. J.G.-P. was funded by the Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association against Cancer (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC), EVP-1178/14)

Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain (MCC-Spain Study)

BACKGROUND: Night shift work, exposure to light at night (ALAN) and circadian disruption may increase the risk of hormone-dependent cancers. OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the association of exposure to ALAN during sleeping time with breast and prostate cancer in a population based multicase–control study (MCC-Spain), among subjects who had never worked at night. We evaluated chronotype, a characteristic that may relate to adaptation to light at night. METHODS: We enrolled 1,219 breast cancer cases, 1,385 female controls, 623 prostate cancer cases, and 879 male controls from 11 Spanish regions in 2008–2013. Indoor ALAN information was obtained through questionnaires. Outdoor ALAN was analyzed using images from the International Space Station (ISS) available for Barcelona and Madrid for 2012–2013, including data of remotely sensed upward light intensity and blue light spectrum information for each geocoded longest residence of each MCC-Spain subject. RESULTS: Among Barcelona and Madrid participants with information on both indoor and outdoor ALAN, exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue light spectrum was associated with breast cancer [adjusted odds ratio (OR) for highest vs. lowest tertile, OR=1.47; 95% CI: 1.00, 2.17] and prostate cancer (OR=2.05; 95% CI: 1.38, 3.03). In contrast, those exposed to the highest versus lowest intensity of outdoor ALAN were more likely to be controls than cases, particularly for prostate cancer. Compared with those who reported sleeping in total darkness, men who slept in “quite illuminated” bedrooms had a higher risk of prostate cancer (OR=2.79; 95% CI: 1.55, 5.04), whereas women had a slightly lower risk of breast cancer (OR=0.77; 95% CI: 0.39, 1.51). CONCLUSION: Both prostate and breast cancer were associated with high estimated exposure to outdoor ALAN in the blue-enriched light spectrum