Revealed: How a phone's blue light may harm your skin and your sight

When we’re not in front of a TV or computer screen, many of us spend the day attached to our phones, checking them long after natural light has faded outside.

It’s increasingly recognised that the blue light emitted from these devices can disrupt our body clocks and sleep patterns, but now doctors warn it may also damage our skin and eyesight.

Much of the research is at an early stage — but meanwhile, chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies has said that at the very least people should turn off their tablets, phones and computers before bed.

Risk: Last year, U.S. scientists published research suggesting that blue light might damage vision and speed up the onset of blindness

Risk: Last year, U.S. scientists published research suggesting that blue light might damage vision and speed up the onset of blindness

‘There is increasing concern about the impact of computer or smartphone screen use and “blue light” upon human health,’ she said in her annual report in March last year. ‘Research is ongoing and this is an important area of investigation.’

Here’s what emerging evidence suggests:

IT MIGHT HURT MY EYES

Blue light, also known as high energy visible light (HEV), is part of the visible light spectrum, which is formed of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet light. 

Blue to violet light has the shortest wavelength on the spectrum — the shorter the wavelength, the higher its energy.

Last year, U.S. scientists published research suggesting that blue light might damage vision and speed up the onset of blindness. Researchers at the University of Toledo found that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers toxic molecules in the eye’s light-sensitive cells, killing them off — a process that leads to macular degeneration, a common cause of sight loss.

The lab-based study, published in the Journal Scientific Reports, found that blue light triggers retinal — a protein in our eyes that senses light — to create poisonous molecules in the photoreceptor cells (specialised cells which respond to light).

There were no changes when the cells were exposed to green, yellow or red light — only blue light affected them.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Ajith Karunarathne, an assistant professor in the university’s department of chemistry and biochemistry, said: ‘We are being exposed to blue light continuously and the eye’s cornea and lens cannot block or reflect it. It’s no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye’s retina. Our experiments explain how this happens and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration.’

Romesh Angunawela, a consultant eye surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and co-founder of Ophthalmic Consultants of London, agrees: ‘Blue wavelength light from digital devices carries more energy to the retina and in particular, the macula [responsible for central vision].

Dangers: Researchers at the University of Toledo found that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers toxic molecules in the eye’s light-sensitive cells, killing them off

Dangers: Researchers at the University of Toledo found that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers toxic molecules in the eye’s light-sensitive cells, killing them off

‘Some ophthalmic scientists have suggested that this could increase the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. Long term studies are required to critically assess this proposed risk.’

It may be especially harmful to look at phones, glowing with blue light, in the dark, explains Dr Karunarathne: ‘[When it is dark] your pupils are so dilated that everything coming from the device gets in.’

Yet while there is no conclusive evidence that blue light from our phones could cause vision loss, it is widely recognised that spending hours in front of devices can lead to digital eye strain.

This is characterised by headaches, fatigue, blurred vision and dry eyes. ‘Blue wavelength light

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