Reports of vision loss due to exposure to blue light from smartphones have been greatly exaggerated, according to the professor whose research sparked concerns about digital devices鈥� effects on eye health.
Blue light has been found to disrupt humans鈥� circadian rhythms, making it more difficult for people to fall asleep.
A released in August found that exposure to blue light can trigger retinal proteins to release molecules that can kill other cells. Cells that can be killed by this process include photoreceptor cells, which do not regenerate 鈥� and the absence of photoreceptor cells can lead to vision loss.
While that may sound concerning, the chemists behind the study say the human eye has a natural defence against this damage in the form of alpha tocoferol, a molecule which can stop photoreceptor cells from dying.
Additionally, they say, the study did not specifically look at blue light from digital devices.
鈥淲e caution the public that our study does not show that light from mobile devices or other digital screens causes blindness,鈥� reads .
Their words are backed up by the American Academy of Opthamology, which says the Toledo study 鈥渃annot be turned into recommendations for the real study in the real world鈥� because it did not perfectly mimic the effect of blue light on live human eyes.
鈥淭he researchers took cells that are not from the eye, put them together with retinal in a way that doesn鈥檛 happen in the body and exposed the cells to light in a way that doesn鈥檛 happen in nature,鈥� the academy said .
The researchers say they don鈥檛 mean to suggest that blue light from digital devices can鈥檛 harm humans鈥� eyesight 鈥� only that there is no scientific proof either way.
While there have been no direct studies of the effects of blue light on human vision, Spanish researchers found earlier this year that it in mice.
With a report from CTV Vancouver鈥檚 Ross McLaughlin
