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Blue Light and Blue Blockers

Unlike UV light, blue light is visible to us. Blue light waves are what makes the sky, or any object, appear blue. Blue light waves are also very short and scatter easily, so a great deal of the glare we experience from sunlight also comes from blue light. Since we can't see UV light, we also can't see the lens filter used to protect us from UV rays. Conversely, since we can see blue light, we can also see blue blockers, the lens filters that block blue rays. Blue blockers do not act like regular sunglasses. They appear tinted, but they do not reduce overall light or make the world look darker. They alter the appearance of blue and green colors and reduce glare, but they don't affect the way other colors appear. In fact, they may even improve color contrast. Because of these characteristics, blue blockers were very popular a few years ago as sports glasses. Many people with macular degeneration find them particularly helpful regardless of their health benefits, because they reduce glare indoors and outdoors while keeping the world bright and visible.

The color that blocks blue is yellow, so blue blockers must contain a yellow tint. Optical shops usually offer a dark, amber lens to provide yellow tint in regular sunglasses or computer eyewear. There are ready-made Computer Eyewear that block blue and UV light with a variety of tints, including TR90 Frame, Metal Frame. People with macular egeneration usually prefer this yellow lens. e-Healthmate glasses are available as clip-ons, and e-Healthmate also offers frames that fit over your regular glasses. You can also ask your local optical shop to make you a pair of UV and blue blocker glasses or add blue blockers to your existing glasses. Remember, blue blockers will make your lenses look darker, but they won't make the world look that much darker.

Blue Light Special

Our eyes need light to work, but a body of research seems to suggest that too much of the wrong kind of light can lead to diseases like age-related macular degeneration. So as you head out to the beach with your sunglasses, keep in mind that they may not be protecting you from all of the damaging rays of the sun. It's well known that ultraviolet or UV light, which we can't see, can damage both skin and eye cells. But vision researchers are uncovering links between disease and some light that we can see.

Now there's more evidence that blue light (400 – 500nm)can damage our eyes, with people who have had cataracts removed being particularly vulnerable.

The Blue Light Hazard

Sight requires light. As years go by, accumulation of lipofuscin (cellular debris) in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) may make the retina more sensitive to damage from chronic light exposure. Retinal light damage has been studied by exposing experimental animals and cell cultures to brilliant light exposures for minutes to hours. According to some of these studies, blue light waves may be especially toxic to those who are prone to macular problems due to genetics, nutrition, environment, health habits, and aging. On the other hand, acute retinal phototoxicity experiments such as these can cause retinal injuries, but they cannot simulate a lifetime of normal light exposure. Some researchers have noted strong similarities between photic injury and retinal abnormalities caused by years of overexposure to light. Others have found no similarities. Whereas the shorter wavelengths of UV-A and UV-B are somewhat filtered by the lens and cornea, animal studies have shown that the light spectrum from UV through blue can be harmful. During lengthy exposures of up to 12 hours, toxicity of the retina is known to increase as the light wavelengths grow shorter. More recently, research on human fetal cell tissue has also revealed damage from blue light exposure.78 Fortunately, healthy retinas have a wide array of built-in chemical defenses against UV-blue light damage. They bear such imposing names as xanthophyll, melanin, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase. And then there are the more familiar agents vitamin E, vitamin C, lutein, and zeaxanthin. Unfortunately, these defenses can weaken with disease, injury, neglect, and age.

Another built-in protective process is that the natural lens takes on a yellowish tint with age, which helps to filter blue light. After cataract surgery, however, patients lose that benefit. Some doctors now recommend replacing the damaged lens with an intraocular lens (IOL) that is tinted to block blue light. The patient should be made aware, however, that this procedure will diminish scotopic (night) vision.

According to the CVRL Color &amp; Vision database, light waves measuring approximately 470nm to 400nm in length are seen as the color blue. The blue bands of the visible light spectrum are adjacent to the invisible band of ultraviolet (UV) light. UV is located on the short wave, high frequency end of the visible light spectrum, just out of sight past the color violet. It is divided into three wavelengths called UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. The effects of UV-C (100nm-290nm) are negligible, as the waves are so short they are filtered by the atmosphere before reaching the eyes. UV-A (320nm-400nm) and UV-B (290nm-320nm) are responsible for damaging material, skin, and eyes, with UV-B getting most of the blame.

When light hits a photoreceptor, the cell bleaches and becomes useless until it has recovered through a metabolic process called the “visual cycle.”Absorption of blue light, however, has been shown to cause a reversal of the process in rodent models. The cell becomes unbleached and responsive again to light before it is ready. This greatly increases the potential for oxidative damage, which leads to a buildup of lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer64 (see Fig. 3). Drusen are then formed from excessive amounts of lipofuscin, hindering the RPE in its ability to provide nutrients to the photoreceptors, which then wither and die. In addition, if the lipofuscin absorbs blue light in high quantities, it becomes phototoxic, which can lead to oxidative damage to the RPE and further cell death (apoptosis).

Blue light is an important element in natural lighting, and it may also contribute to psychological health.Research, however, shows that high illumination levels of blue light can be toxic to cellular structures, test animals, and human fetal retinas.56 (Also see &quot;Random Quotes&quot; below.) The industry has established standards for protecting consumers from extremely bright light and from UV radiation; but no standards address the blue light hazard that may be affecting millions who have retinal problems. Blue light is a duplicitous character who needs to be carefully watched. Until research proves him to be either a friend or a foe, education will help consumers make decisions based upon the facts.