Silver Spring, MD -- In the near future, offices may use lighting to boost workers' health and make them more productive.

That's the prediction of the National Lighting Bureau, which is touting several new research studies which show a connection between a person's health and their exposure to light.

One study finds that women who work night shifts in artificial light are far more susceptible to breast cancer. Another shows people who work indoors for long hours tend to be vitamin D deficient.

It's believed that the way light affects your health has to do with its influence on melatonin, which cleanses anti-oxidants from the blood. If you're exposed to light at night, it will inhibit melatonin production.

Lighting Bureau spokesman John Bachner says this sort of research will likely lead to the development of lighting systems which help prevent diseases.

However, he says he has no idea when this will happen since more research is needed. In Bachner's words, "No one is going to create lighting systems based on speculation."

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