We know too much looking at screens has a negative affect on our eyes. I’ve never had such sore eyes, as when I worked in an office with zero natural lighting, stuck in front of a computer all day.
I did not last long in that job. Blue light glasses were not a ‘thing’ in those days 😜
The reason blue light affects the eyes, is because it induces oxidative stress, which leads to degenerative changes, like those seen in age-related macular degeneration.
But did you know, it’s not just our eyes affected by blue light? Our skin also senses light, and is also negatively affected by blue light exposure (TV, mobile phone/computer, LED/fluorescent lights).
It causes lipid peroxidation in the skin (this will happen to a greater extent, if you eat polyunsaturated fats, like vegetable oils/margarine, because they are unstable in the presence of heat, light and oxygen).
In small amounts, cells respond to oxidative stress by upregulating antioxidant activity, such as glutathione. But when constantly bombarded with oxidative stressors, the cells become damaged. On the skin surface, this looks like wrinkling, sagging, and lipofuscin (age spots/liver spots).
Through the photoreceptors of our eyes and skin, blue light waves even affect our circadian rhythms, hormone levels, female cycle…and even our metabolic rate. Pretty wild, right?! This effect is more pronounced when we are exposed to blue light after sunset.
There’s an program called F.lux (free for personal use) that you can use on computer to block blue light, and even adjust light levels and tone to reflect natural light levels, as per time of day. It’s apparently quite ‘buggy’ on mobile phones, though…
Also, Block Blue Light have blue-light-blocking lightbulbs, night-lamps, and more. (Free shipping worldwide on orders over $99 AUD. Use code ‘radical’ for 10% off at checkout.) I have one of their night-lights, since I often have to get up in the night to little ones, but don’t want to have harsh blue lighting wrecking my sleep hormones! (Let’s face it, mums need all the sleep hormones they can get…)
The older-style incandescent lightbulbs emit light as a result of being heated. Therefore their light is closer to natural lighting. Newer ‘green-energy’ LED’s emit more blue light, as do fluorescent lights. Why many offices/schools use fluorescent lights-to try keep people awake 😉