Blue light from phones can speed up blindness: study

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Blue light from digital devices like smartphones, tablets could accelerate blindness, said a new study.

According to the study by the University of Toledo (UT) in the US, exposure to blue light continuously can generate poisonous molecules in the eye's light-sensitive cells and lead to macular degeneration.

Macular degeneration is an eye disease leading to severe vision loss which cannot be cured. Usually torturing people over 60 years old, it is caused by the death of photoreceptors, a kind of light-sensitive cell. They need molecules called retinal to sense light and trigger signaling to the brain.

“You need a continuous supply of retinal molecules if you want to see,” said Dr. Ajith Karunarathne in a UT release, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “Photoreceptors are useless without retinal, which is produced in the eye.”

Macular degeneration is an eye disease leading to severe vision loss. /VCG Photo

However, researchers found that exposure to blue light transforms retinal molecules into “killers.” They produce poisonous chemical molecules in photoreceptor cells when dissolving on the membrane, said Kasun Ratnayake, a PhD student at UT who was involved in the study.

“Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they’re dead, they’re dead for good,” Ratnayake added.

Blue light from digital devices like smartphones, tablets could accelerate blindness, according to a new study. /VCG Photo

Researchers also combined retinal molecules with other cells like cancer cells, heart cells and neurons, and found these cells also died, but only with exposure to blue light.

“The retinal-generated toxicity by blue light is universal. It can kill any cell type,” said Karunarathne.

To protect eyes from blue light, researchers advise people to wear sunglasses which filter both UV and blue light outside and avoid using smartphones or tablets in the dark, and adding blue light filters to the screens is also called “a good idea.”

Researchers hope to find a way to protect the vision of children living in such an era where access to digital devices is so easy.

(With inputs from Xinhua News Agency)

(Top image: VCG Photo)