How ‘Blue Light’ Affects Your Eyesight

We all know it’s a bad idea to use electronic screens directly before bed. (Despite this, most of us do it anyway — those Netflix shows aren’t going to watch themselves, right?) The artificial light emitted by laptops, tablets and smartphones has been linked to disrupted sleep alongside a variety of more serious ailments. But is it actually dangerous? The evidence in this infographic makes for some scary reading…

The infographic below comes from WhatisDryEye.com, a US-based educational website about dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration. As this long list of (admittedly selective) evidence demonstrates, the potential impact of HEV wavelengths or ‘blue light’ on human eyes is not something to be treated lightly. In various studies, regular, intensive screen use has been linked to everything from mental fatigue and headaches all the way to retina damage and vision loss.

Of course, there’s no conclusive proof that blue light exposure is damaging to humans– just as there’s no hard evidence linking smartphones to cancer. Nevertheless, it’s something to be mindful of; particularly if you spend most of your nights squinting at your phone in a dark bedroom…

[Via WhatisDryEye.com]

This article has been updated since its original publication.


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