Effects of different SPDS of LED and fluorescent lamps on melatonin suppression

Lighting design is today mainly based on conventional quantities such as illuminances on visual tasks, luminance distribution, glare, colour rendering, etc., but these quantities only help to evaluate visual system's response. According to various researches light induces also non visual effects, influencing mood, health and circadian system's regulation. In this paper a procedure described by Mark S. Rea and others was used to evaluate the supposed melatonin suppression caused by exposure to different light scenes. These scenes were set up using fluorescent and LED luminaries in a test room with neutral gray walls. The goal of this work is to demonstrate that lighting design has to take into account also these non visual responses.