Impacts of long-term exposure to low-level artificial light at night during pregnancy on offspring health

WANG Jiali; ZHANG Xuehong; WANG Wenli; HU Qingwen; XU Jian

doi:10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0266

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Chinese Journal of Child Health Care ›› 2025, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (10) : 1061-1065. DOI: 10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0266

Pediatric Metabolic Diseases Column

Impacts of long-term exposure to low-level artificial light at night during pregnancy on offspring health

WANG Jiali^1,2, ZHANG Xuehong³, WANG Wenli^1,2, HU Qingwen^1,2, XU Jian^1,2,4

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Abstract

The influence of prenatal maternal environment during pregnancy on offspring development has been an increasing concern.Exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) during pregnancy, as a common but easily neglected environmental factor, has attracted increasing attention because of its interference with circadian rhythm and potential impact on offspring health.Low-level ALAN refers to low-intensity and sustained exposure to artificial light sources (e.g., street lights, electronic devices, indoor lighting, etc.) at night.Because light is a main external factor of circadian rhythm, abnormal exposure to light can affect the expression of circadian clock genes and related metabolic homeostasis through the neuro-endocrine signaling mediated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus, thereby affecting the healthy development and function of multiple systems in the human body.Studies showed that prenatal maternal exposure to ALAN could impair nervous system by inducing sleep and mood disorders and cognitive deficits, and is closely related to metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular dysfunction and immune system imbalance in the offspring.ALAN during pregnancy may affect fetal programming by interfering with biorhythm-related mechanisms, increasing the risk of offspring multisystem dysfunction.This review summarizes the potential harms and possible mechanisms underlying the effects of ALAN during pregnancy on maternal and offspring circadian rhythm regulation, and functions of neurological, metabolic, cardiovascular, and immune systems, and looks forward to future research directions, so as to provide scientific basis for related public health prevention and control strategies.

Key words

low-level artificial light at night / pregnancy / offspring / circadian rhythm / metabolic regulation

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WANG Jiali, ZHANG Xuehong, WANG Wenli, HU Qingwen, XU Jian. Impacts of long-term exposure to low-level artificial light at night during pregnancy on offspring health[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care. 2025, 33(10): 1061-1065 https://doi.org/10.11852/zgetbjzz2025-0266

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