The dark side of technology: The dangers of Blue Light

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Is blue light harmful?

Blue light is (literally blue light) everywhere, it comes from the sun, it’s is in fluorescent light and your TV’s, despite this naturally occurring light there is a recent wave of warning regarding negative effects of long term exposure.

Full spectrum
The visible light spectrum, just a tiny fraction of the electromagnetic waves in the universe.

Light is just one part of the electromagnetic spectrum and our eyes can only detect visible light, blue light is almost at the end of the visible spectrum and has a high energy short wavelength.

Naturally, blue light sets our Circadian rhythm.

Regular circadian rhythm
A diagram of our natural circadian rhythm.

The blue light from the sun assists our body in keeping a regular sleeping cycle and without it our body clock can get out of sync.

Benefits of blue light?

It makes us more alert, enhances reaction speed and can even make you feel happier, in a regular cycle it is great and blue light exposure is good for us.

What is bad about Blue light then?

Because blue light has a high energy short wavelength it flickers more than the other colors and creates a visual glare.   Our skin and eyes have Melanin that helps to absorb Blue light and UV, however, our eyes are not adequately designed to protect us from blue light, long term it can cause increased macular degeneration, increasing the chances of vision loss with age.

When we begin to look at our time behind screens we can see that the majority of us are in front of these devices or even fluorescent tubes in the office on  a regular basis. All day exposure like this can cause physical discomfort in the form of headaches sore eyes and fatigue.  Digital Eye Syndrome (DES) is a condition related to overexposure to blue light and it has outpaced carpal-tunnel syndrome as the biggest office danger. The same too can be said on a bright sunny day outside.

Digital blue light vs the sun.

Aside from the actual discomfort, we need to look at what the digital blue light poses to us compared to the sun. Primarily the body circadian rhythm, the sun sets our body clock with blue light, if we are artificially exposing ourselves to digital blue light there is a risk of confusing our body clock and disrupting our sleep cycle.

Digital blue light exposure during the night, when the natural suns blue light is gone is the danger zone, your circadian rhythm can shift. Looking at a screen before sleep tricks your mind into thinking it is still time to be awake, you might sleep the whole night but the quality of our sleep is reduced.  Excessive exposure to blue light after the sun has gone has this effect because it can lower your melatonin levels. Melatonin is the hormone that regulates your sleeping cycle and under a normal cycle starts to be produced around 9pm every day, blue light will delay the time this occurs.

The flow down of a disrupted sleep cycle can include diabetes, depression, weight gain, and some cancers.

What about UV?

We all know the dangers of UV light from the sun, it gives us a nice tan, but if overexposed can promote cancer and skin diseases, blue light and its effects are different.  In our eyes UV  can damage the front of our eyes, symptoms are physical and faster to feel and see. Blue light, on the other hand, passes through our front lens, pupil, and iris and instead influences the retina and optic nerve, a less obvious physical change and has a deeper influence beyond physical damage.

How to avoid blue light?

The simplest is to avoid devices and bright light in the evenings, this is not practical for anyone so some more realistic ways to combat the after-hours effects of blue light are,

  • Glasses to filter the light.
  • Software to adjust the screen.
  • Changing or dimming the lights in your home.

Glasses

Glasses offer complete filtration from all sources and is the best way to avoid any blue lighting effects.

Blue light blockers

If you wear glasses, you can get some filters in your lenses,  you can also get Bono style lenses with just a filter in them, or you can just avoid using a screen an hour before bedtime.

Blue blockers
The classy ones are only slightly orange.

The filter is similar to a laser protection lenses that block out just a specific range of light.

Blue light removal with software

Using software you can reduce the amount of light emitted from your device, these applications are based on changing the color tone of your screen. This method is tested and also completely free. Flux is a great app for both your computer and iPhone that can automatically adjust your screen to the time of day.

There are also blue light filters you can stick on your screen but just adjusting your output with an automated app is simpler and less hassle.

Changing your household lighting

Aside from your devices, the lighting in bright white light your home can also cause these effects, dim the lights after 9pm and use warm yellow lighting.

Remember there are lots of things in the world that can be damaging to your health and this is only one. Over here in China, the air and food are bigger threats than blue light.

Other dark sides to technology?

Post a comment and share any other not so well known negative impacts of our tech-filled lives.