title: Does electric light stimulate cancer development in children?
abstract: Incidence of cancer in children has increased in recent decades, and known risk factors can account for only a small minority of cases. Gestation and early childhood are particularly vulnerable periods in human development and an important aspect of development is in circadian rhythmicity. Emerging evidence implicates the molecular circadian mechanism in a vast array of other physiologic functions including metabolism, DNA damage response and cell-cycle regulation. Electric light exposure at night can disrupt circadian rhythms and, thereby, many other physiologic processes that are under circadian control. On this basis, it is proposed that ill-timed electric light exposure to pregnant women, to neonates, infants, and small children may increase cancer risk in those children. There are practical implications and interventions that accrue from this idea should it later be confirmed to be true.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06030, USA. bugs@uchc.edu
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000528:radiation effects; D004560:Electricity / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology