Seeing Blue

I recently overheard a conversation about the harms of blue lights from electronic devices. It may not be news to some people but I wanted to look more into it and share what I learned.

Nowadays, with artificial lights and electronic devices being so common and accessible, most people do not give second thoughts about leaving lights on or staring at their smartphone screens for excessive amount of time. But according to research, being constantly exposed to light at night can in fact be harmful to human health. The problem is the blue wavelengths in ordinary white lights. Blue light—beneficial during daytime as it boosts energy and mood—can cause insomnia at night and disrupt the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulate sleep and wake cycles. The lack of melatonin is associated with high rates of cancers, diabetes, and other diseases. It's also been found out that blue light causes high retinal stress that can potentially lead to blindness. Fluorescent lightbulbs and LED lights are more energy-efficient than the traditional incandescent lightbulbs, but they produce more blue light. Ways of reducing the effects of blue light include coating on lightbulbs and wearing blocking glasses.

Learning about the harms of blue light, I begin to hesitate about using my phone so often and reading books on tablets. I realize that theres bound to be downsides about our excessive, almost limitless, usage of electronic devices.