As the nation prepares to move its clocks an hour forward this Sunday, medical professionals and lawmakers are sounding the alarm.
They say that going back and forth between two times is unnecessary and unhealthy.
On Tuesday, Sen. Marco Rubio and several of his colleagues reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act, which is aimed at making daylight saving time, the time observed by most of the nation between the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November, permanent.
Research has shown an increase in workplace injuries, strokes, and suicides after the clocks change in the spring.
But some scientists disagree with lawmakers on how to stop changing the clocks. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Society for Research on Biological Rhythms have recommended a switch to permanent standard time, the time that most of the nation only uses between November and mid-March.
PUBLIC RETURN TO NORMAL LIFE OUTPACING FEDERAL GUIDANCE
Dr. Joseph Takahashi, the chairman of the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said in an interview with the Washington Examiner that permanent DST is the "worst choice," arguing that our current system would be preferable if given the option between the two.
"The main problem with daylight saving time is that you're creating an artificial situation where your circadian clock in your body has to essentially adjust to the wrong time that it is optimized for," he said. "I would say even 10, 20 years ago, nobody thought that that was very important because there wasn't a circadian clock disease that would kill you."
"I think going back and forth is pretty detrimental," said Dr. Beth Ann Malow, professor of neurology and pediatrics and director of the Sleep Division of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "It's hard to know for sure what's worse, going back and forth or having permanent [DST]."
She added, though, that she believes permanent standard time is the best option.
"To me, the most important thing is people understanding the science behind it because a lot of people feel like, 'Oh, it's just an hour, right? It's like traveling from Central Time to Eastern Time, right?'" she said. "But it's really a permanent shift. You're not getting the light you need in the winter to wake up, and you're getting too much light in the summer, which can interfere with sleep."
Dr. Takahashi added, "But today we know, because we understand the mechanism of the clock and that it regulates essentially every cell in your body and thousands of genes in your genome every day, that disruption of your circadian clock leads to all sorts of disorders that have been documented."
He also pointed to research that shows that individuals on the western side of a time zone have a higher risk of cancer than those on a time zone's eastern side, which experts believe is further evidence of the adverse effects of circadian disruption.
In one study, hospitals reported a 24% increase in heart attacks on the Monday after the spring time change. Conversely, they reported a 21% decrease in heart attacks on the Tuesday following the fall time change.
Fifteen states have enacted legislation or passed a resolution of some kind since 2018 to make DST permanent, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. These states, however, are not able to make the change until Congress approves it.
Rubio's office did not respond to the Washington Examiner's request for comment on the disagreement between the lawmakers and health professionals.
Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe DST and instead only observe standard time. While moving to permanent DST requires congressional approval, opting for permanent standard time does not.
DST was first introduced in the United States as a war-time effort to conserve energy. In 1942, year-round DST was instituted in the U.S., and standard time was reintroduced in 1945. Until 1966, states were free to decide where and when to introduce DST. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 standardized when DST would be enacted across the nation.
While it is widely believed that DST was introduced to help farmers, Michael Downing, a lecturer at Tufts University and author of the book Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time, says that's a myth.
"The farmers were the only organized lobby against daylight saving in the history of the country," he told National Geographic, asserting that farmers wanted the extra hour of sunlight to get their crops to market. "The farmers were the reason we never had a peacetime daylight saving time until 1966. They had a powerful lobby and were against it vociferously."
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"The public safety improvements, economic benefits, and the wellbeing of the American people are all excellent and credible reasons to embrace year-long Daylight Saving Time," Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith said in a statement. "I know the agricultural sector in Mississippi and across the nation desires this change."
"Americans’ lifestyles are very different than they were when Daylight Saving Time began more than a century ago," Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse added. "Making Daylight Saving Time permanent will end the biannual disruptions to daily life and give families more daylight hours to enjoy after work and school."
