It has been said that the radiation emitting from blue light affect vision in human eyes. Since the last few years, the world of technology has taken up this concern seriously and is trying its best to offer solutions to make mobile technology more affordable. That's why we are seeing a lot of blue filter applications on smartphones and tablets to cut down on the amount of radiations. While it has been often argued whether the side effects are harmful enough to keep a yellowish tint on screens before going to bed, scientists now have a rather worrying explanation for that.
According to a research by the scientists from the University of Toledo, the blue light radiation coming out from smartphones and tablets are known to cause damages that can lead to several eye diseases. The study, as reported by The Guardian, states that blue light radiation is known to generate poisonous molecules in the light-sensitive cells of the eye. The poisonous molecule can lead to macular degeneration- a disease that leads to blindness.
"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, such as a new kind of eye drop," said Dr Ajith Karunarathne, one of the researchers.
The research was conducted to study the effects of various types of light on living cells. When it came to blue light, the researchers found out that photo-receptive cells respond negatively by producing a chemical of poisonous nature. The accumulation of this chemical in the cells results in macular degeneration disease, thereby leading to blindness. When the human eye is exposed to blue light in dark conditions, the eye needs to undergo a lot of stress and the chemical generation is augmented.
Macular degeneration is a disease that naturally happens as humans age. It is caused due to deterioration of the light receptive cells. The poisonous chemical can cause permanent damage to any kind of cell in the human body. Scientists have figured out that an antioxidant chemical, called alpha-tocopherol, generated in the human body prevents the photo-receptive cells from dying but doesn't offer any kind of protection. Photo-receptive cells in the eyes don't have the ability to regenerate once damaged; hence the only way to stay safe is to reduce the rate at which the deterioration happens. The damage from blue light is universal and with smartphones, tablets and televisions taking an indispensable role in our lives, the cell deterioration keeps going on at an alarming rate
While it's difficult to get rid of the concerned gadgets sighting their importance in daily life, there are certain simple ways you can reduce the effect. As mentioned earlier, smartphone and tablet manufacturers are shipping their products with blue light filter built-in to their software and switching it on while browsing in darker ambiance will certainly go a long way to cut down on the blue light radiation. Additionally, researchers have also suggested that wearing blue-light sunglasses out in the open world will also help in reducing the damage on the eye cells.
