Are you familiar with blue light? Well, as you are reading this, you are exposed to it by simply being in front of a screen. To fully understand, let’s do a quick 30-second recap from physics class on the visible light spectrum.
(photo by me)
Blue light is one colour that the human eye can detect. If we look at the light spectrum below, colours located on the left have a shorter wavelength, whereas those on the right have longer wavelengths. Simply, the longer the wavelength (longer than 550 nm), the less impact it has on our health (Varshavski, 2020). According to the RP Photonics Encyclopedia, lasers with a 1000 nm wavelength or longer are often called “eye-safe” (Paschota, 2020).
As you can see, UV light, otherwise ultraviolet light or radiation, is located on the left side of the light spectrum. You probably heard that UV light is one we want skin protection from. Think of UV radiation emitted from the sun or the advice of wearing sunscreen on your hands before heading to your nail appointment.
"Humanly Visible Spectrum" by entirelysubjective is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Below 550 nm, well, this is where you want to pay attention and monitor the amount of exposure to it.
The best evidence on blue light effects relates to the body’s biological clock, also known as our circadian rhythm. Blue light suppresses melatonin, the hormone that makes us sleepy and ensures we stay asleep at night.
A Harvard study found that “blue light exposure suppressed melatonin about twice as long as green light AND shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours)” (Harvard Health Publishing, 2012). It means that you will have a disruption in your sleep schedule, most likely that you will be staying up a lot longer and sleeping at a much later time.
Another study conducted by researchers at the University of Toronto compared the results of wearing blue-light-blocking goggles versus exposure to dim light wearing no goggles. To say the least, “the levels of [melatonin] were about the same in the two groups” (Harvard Health Publishing, 2012). If you’re not a fan of dimly lit screens or installing a mobile app that applies a red filter while using your phone, wear some blue light blocking glasses.
SOJOS Visions gifted me 2 pairs of glasses. The star of this blog post is their blue-light-blocking glasses. You can get them HERE.
Let me tell you I am impressed by what it came with:
High-quality frames
Blue light test card + blue light laser
Doubled-sided mini screw
I wear my SOJOS Vision blue-light blocking glasses every day
(photos by me)
Watch the blue-light experiment in the video below. YOU WILL BE STUNNED!!!
To see the full unboxing, click HERE
References
Harvard Health Publishing. (2012, May). Blue light has a dark side. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side.
Paschotta, D. R. (2020, March 14). Eye-safe Lasers. RP Photonics Encyclopedia - eye-safe lasers, retina, corneal injuries, erbium, thulium. https://www.rp-photonics.com/eye_safe_lasers.html.
Varshavski, M. [Doctor Mike]. (2020, September 13). What Blue Light Actually Does To Your Body (and what you can do about it) [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/wGnRcX53XBQ
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