MAIL ONLINE: Diabetes, weight problems and even cancer! Terrifying new research into light pollution reveals why it's time to see the LIGHT on the blight that harms us all

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‘Melatonin is like a biological signal of night, telling our various organs and tissues it’s night-time,’ says Professor Robert Lucas, a chronobiologist at the University of Manchester, who studies how light affects the body.

If melatonin is suppressed, it suggests that the biological clock is being affected, too.

The bad news is that light levels equivalent to those in an artificially lit home (around 135 lux) are bright enough to suppress melatonin, according to a study published in the Journal of Pineal Research in 2012.

HOW THE EXPERTS PROTECT THEMSELVES

Although night-time light exposure has the potential to disrupt your internal clocks, Professor Lucas cautions against trying to live in complete darkness after sunset.

‘It is likely to be more dangerous to keep the lights off and risk falling down the stairs,’ he says.

However, most circadian biologists have dimmer switches on the lights at home and try to dim them after sunset, as well as avoiding using electronic devices in the run-up to bedtime.