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Blue and White Light: Which light source is more threatening to our eyes?
With the advancement of technology and the popularity of blue LED lights and various displays, more and more people are discussing the impact of blue light on eye health. Especially in today's society where digital devices are used for a long time, whether blue light really poses a threat to our vision has become a hot topic of research. Blue light is defined as short-wave purple blue light in the visible spectrum with a wavelength range of between 400 and 450 nanometers. Among them, potential negative biological effects of blue light include interference to physiological clocks and impairment of retinal health, which may lead to age-related macular degeneration.
With the advent of blue light filter glasses, many consumers believe that these products can withstand the negative effects of blue light, but there is currently no strong evidence that these filters have improved eye health, vision fatigue or sleep quality.
Physical Effects of Blue Light on the Eye
The harm of blue light lies in its impact on the physiological physiology of human eyes. In 2019, France's Agency for Food, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) issued a report pointing out that excessive exposure to blue light LEDs may cause short-term retinal damage and is associated with long-term age-related macular degeneration. Although existing research is still relatively small, outdoor workers' long-term exposure to blue light components in the sun has been shown to have some connection with macular degeneration.
According to a 2019 CIE report, the risk of blue light hazards for LED bulbs is relatively low, and the agency's IEC 62471 standard also evaluates the photobiosafety of light sources.
The relationship between physiological clock and blue light
The physiological clock is a mechanism that regulates sleep patterns, and one of the main factors is the excitation of melanin. This protein can absorb the maximum light at 480 nanometers, but it can also play a certain effect in the range of 450 to 540 nanometers. Harvard Health Publishing points out that exposure to blue light at night can have a strong negative impact on sleep. In daylight, blue light, while helps suppress melatonin and promotes awakening, can interfere with normal sleep patterns at night.
A 2016 report clearly stated that unrestricted use of LED street lights has negative effects on physiological clocks.
Eye fatigue and blue light
Blu-ray is believed to be one of the causes of digital eye fatigue, but there is no solid evidence to support this hypothesis. As people use digital devices more and more time, the problem of eye fatigue is becoming more and more prominent, but the direct correlation between blue light and eye fatigue still needs further research.
Blue light blocking solution
As people are concerned about the harm of blue light, a variety of solutions to reduce blue light exposure have emerged on the market, such as turning off the blue light output of the monitor or wearing blue light blocking glasses. Operating systems such as Apple and Microsoft have all provided options to adjust the color temperature to reduce blue light emissions.
Although these filter settings can be automatically enabled at night, they tend to reduce the color range of the monitor, affecting the effectiveness of use.
Blu-ray lenses after surgery
After cataract surgery, the ophthalmologist replaces the natural lens with a synthetic endoscopy (IOL). Different types of IOLs will choose to filter blue light of different wavelengths, but current system evaluation shows that the IOLs filtering blue light are not obvious to improve vision and may have negative effects on color perception and physiological clock.
Advertising and misleading publicity
Many glasses manufacturers have left untrue impressions on consumers when promoting their blue light barrier filters. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority has fined some brands for false advertising, pointing out that blue-ray blocking glasses claim to improve eye health or sleep quality without scientific evidence.
UK's Optical Committee criticized some companies for their claims of lack of evidence for their blue-ray screening lenses, and pointed out that the practice misled the public.
In short, the impact of blue light cannot be underestimated, and how should we correctly understand the various light sources we come into contact with in our daily lives?
