Can a colored light cause cancer? Interfere with sleep?

[Teaching3bears]

I was thinking of buying a particular night light that changes color, not to use as a night light but to plug in in the evening before we go to bed because my kids will probably think it is neat. I was looking at the reviews for the product and one person said that there was a cancer warning on the back of the product.  I googled a bit and read that all artificial light used at night can cause cancer because our bodies need darkness.  Okay.  So, do all nightlight manufacturers have to put a cancer warning on their products?  Or, is there something worse about colored lights?  Or, might this particular product be emitting cancer-causing fumes or something and I should really avoid it? 

[theelfqueen]

I'm sure it's the usual California everything causes cancer warning. 

[klmama]

Christmas tree lights have that warning, too, as do many extension cords and even Snap Circuits.  It's because there is a small amount of lead in the PVC insulation around the wiring.  That's probably the case with the night light, too.  Just wash your hands after handling it.

As for light causing cancer?  The body detoxifies while you sleep at night, so maybe that's why?  That isn't the reason behind the California label on the product, though.

 

[Katy]

The warning has nothing to do with light at night and everything to do with a toxin in the product. Usually with plastic things like Christmas lights it’s lead, but it could be anything. 
 

[Teaching3bears]

5 hours ago, klmama said:

Christmas tree lights have that warning, too, as do many extension cords and even Snap Circuits.  It's because there is a small amount of lead in the PVC insulation around the wiring.  That's probably the case with the night light, too.  Just wash your hands after handling it.

As for light causing cancer?  The body detoxifies while you sleep at night, so maybe that's why?  That isn't the reason behind the California label on the product, though.

 

The light has no wires.  It plugs directly into the wall.  It says it is made of plastic.  It looks like hard plastic and I don’t see any vinyl.  The light is LED and I am thinking that maybe that is the problem.

[ktgrok]

Just don't eat the light, and you will be fine 🙂

[Katy]

1 hour ago, Teaching3bears said:

The light has no wires.  It plugs directly into the wall.  It says it is made of plastic.  It looks like hard plastic and I don’t see any vinyl.  The light is LED and I am thinking that maybe that is the problem.

There is absolutely not a law that says to label LED lights as causing cancer because there isn’t the science for that. The product contains something toxic. Most likely there are wires inside covered in vinyl that includes lead, but it could also be something in the colored plastic on the exterior of the light.  Pigments are used to color plastic and one commonly used pigment contains lead. 
 

Doctors recommend people use LED lights to treat dermatology conditions all the time. Wherever you read that is probably a conspiracy theorist site, not a legitimate scientific site. California has laws requiring a warning label on any product that contains toxins that cause cancer. 

[Acorn]

The plastic or metal inside the light probably contains lead or other material that requires labeling in California. I have read theories on 3rd shift employees having higher rates of cancer due to disrupted body cycles, lower Vitamin D and/or possibly higher rates of smoking. I do not think that those studies are considering nightlight situations. 

[Farrar]

3 hours ago, Teaching3bears said:

The light has no wires.  

I promise you. There are wires in there somewhere. It's electrical. It has wires.

This is what everyone is trying to explain - the thing that causes cancer can even be something you can't get to because it's fully encased. They're just required - generally by California - to state that there's a link between cancer and part of the product. But the vast majority of these things are fine if you don't eat/suck on them.

[TravelingChris]

On 3/27/2021 at 8:02 AM, Katy said:

There is absolutely not a law that says to label LED lights as causing cancer because there isn’t the science for that. The product contains something toxic. Most likely there are wires inside covered in vinyl that includes lead, but it could also be something in the colored plastic on the exterior of the light.  Pigments are used to color plastic and one commonly used pigment contains lead. 
 

Doctors recommend people use LED lights to treat dermatology conditions all the time. Wherever you read that is probably a conspiracy theorist site, not a legitimate scientific site. California has laws requiring a warning label on any product that contains toxins that cause cancer. 

Or what may cause cancer so lots of things are labeled.  Too many.

[Lori D.]

Totally unrelated to the cancer -- we did have a problem with a night light interfering with sleep. It was too bright and the angle from the wall socket to the 4yo child's bed was a direct line, so the poor guy was getting no deep sleep and was becoming increasingly exhausted and falling apart all day. It took me 3 days of that to figure out the connection with the new night light and remove it. DS started sleeping soundly again, and all of the crankiness/whining/falling apart vanished.

As long as you just use it in the evening and not for while actuallysleeping, you'll be fine on the "interrupting sleep" front. 😉