There’s a good chance you’ve heard about the dark side of blue light. We know it can mess with our sleep cycles and contribute to eye strain, but it’s also difficult to avoid.
These days there are programs and apps to reduce the amount of blue light emanating from our devices. There also are glasses coatings and other filters that can also reduce blue light exposure.
But what exactly makes blue light bad? Here’s a quick breakdown of why overexposure can be harmful.
First of all, before we get into the bad stuff, it’s important to note that blue light isn’t all bad. Some exposure is actually important for our health. The majority of high-energy visible light sources emit a significant amount of blue light. That includes the sun as well as light therapy lamps used to help treat Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Not only does it help boost cognitive function, it’s also important to your circadian rhythm. That’s why exposure to excessive amounts of blue light at night can disrupt this cycle and lead to sleeplessness.
Computer screens, cell phones, tablets, and many other devices emit quite a lot of blue light. While it’s not nearly as much the sun emits, we expose ourselves to it constantly. Not only do we often look at screens all day, we continue to do so after the sun has set.
This has led many eye care specialists to express concerns regarding the long-term effects of blue light exposure. Additionally, many health care providers also worry what it does for our mental health as well.
Two major downsides to blue light is that it can contribute to eye strain and fatigue.
Unfortunately, short-wavelength, high energy blue light tends to scatter more easily than other types of visible light. This is why constant use of blue light emitting devices can cause digital eye strain. Over time, this can also lead to computer vision syndrome. Some symptoms include dry eyes, increased light sensitivity, blurred vision, and headaches.
Additionally, some studies show that too much blue light exposure can damage cells and lead to macular degeneration. It’s currently unknown, however, how much blue light is considered too much.
Considering how blue light can also affect our sleep cycle and cause fatigue, it’s especially important to limit exposure at night.
Our eyes are really great at keeping UV light from damaging our vision. Even without sunglasses, only a tiny amount of UV radiation (less than one percent) will actually reach your retina. (That’s not to say sunglasses aren’t important for blocking damaging UV light.)
However, our eyes are not good at blocking blue light. Pretty much all visible light passes right through the cornea all the way through to our retinas.
This is where blue light filters can come in handy. Some filters are made to be installed on devices with screens and can also protect them from scratches as well. Others come in the form of glasses, both prescription and non.
If you spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen, you might want to consider this.
