The fortunes and ills of modern society. Without argument, the advent of artificial light has provided a new way of life, a freedom from the dictates of the light of day and the darkness of night. However, it appears, we are not getting enough light during the day and we are getting too much light at night. As a result, it is creating an internal hormone imbalance and we might be paying the price of progress in increased rates of breast cancer and other cancers as well.

It's called light pollution at night and energy conservation by day. To save on energy, we dimmed the indoor lighting. Many of us spend most of our days exposed to a quality of indoor lighting that is insuffcient for our health needs. At night, we are exposed to too much light when the body needs darkness. The trouble stems from the interaction between melatonin and light. At night, when melatonin should be most active in our bodies, artificial light shuts it down. According to researchers, one of the functions of melatonin is in its ability to shut down cancer cells.

At a conference in Ottawa, Canada, more than 100 psychologists, biologists, medical researchers, engineers and lighting designers are attending a conference to address the research and to explore possible solutions. As one of the researchers suggested, "we tend to live in a state of perpetual low light."