Eye Health In The Digital Age

Protect your eyes against blue light emitted from computers, cell phones, and other devices.

- Jim Stringham, PhD

Blue light is the portion of the visible spectrum that, when isolated from other wavelengths of light, appears blue. The blue wavelengths, however, can mix with other wavelengths of light to produce different colors—sort of like mixing paint. For example, the bright and clear white background on your smartphone, tablet, or computer is produced by mixing yellow light with a strong blue light component. You see white, but there is a lot of blue reaching your eyes.

Why is this an issue? The portion of the spectrum that we see as blue has significantly higher energy than wavelengths corresponding to green, yellow, or red. Over time, this higher energy has the potential to overwork the retina (the light-sensitive neural tissue in the back of the eye), produce excessive unstable oxygen (i.e., free radicals), and ultimately damage the retina and lead to all sorts of other issues. Once the photoreceptor neurons in the retina are damaged or die, they cannot be repaired or regenerated.

Cell death is the worst case scenario. But there are several other health-related issues that arise from exposure to excessive blue light, especially long-term exposure from screens. These issues include eyestrain, eye fatigue, headache, neck strain, blurry vision, and reduced sleep quality. The incidence of these complaints is so high these days that there is now a condition called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) that consolidates these symptoms under one diagnostic umbrella.