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LED light: What are the risks for Vision?

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Light-LED-what-risk

LED lighting (light-emitting diodes) is a very widely used technology. It has many advantages: bulbs that do not heat, energy saving, longer life … in short, it would be absurd to do without. But what about our eyes ?

LED technology, what is it?

From a technical point of view, there is no better lighting system than LED light. Therefore, LED technology is everywhere. On our screens, but it also powers the headlights of our cars, home lighting …

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In addition to the advantages mentioned above, an inexpensive manufacturing technique consists in covering a blue diode of yellow phosphorus in order to convert blue light to white light.

This blue light is known. It feeds our screens because it has the distinction of being the one that produces the most energy . You can find on this page our articles on this subject.

It is precisely this blue light which poses problem.

LED light and optics: What can be the risks?

Several studies have been conducted to determine the risks of LED light for our eyes.

In 2016, scientific work revealed that light LEDs induced toxic stress in the retina , promoting early aging of the eye and the appearance of AMD (age-related macular degeneration).

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Very strong exposure to LED light has shown destruction of retinal cells.

The younger generations, who will be exposed to this type of luminosity all their life, should be strongly affected, and therefore see an exponential increase in the risk of AMD.

 

More recently, in May 2019, ANSES ( National Agency for Food Safety, Environment and Labor) released a report entitled Effects on human health and the environment systems using light-emitting diodes in which it is stated that LED light can also be responsible for dry eye and visual discomfort.

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It's mostly the circadian rhythm , which is the 24-hour sleep-wake rhythm (which determines our day-night time) which may be strongly disturbed in case of high dose of LED light.

Phototoxicity is high when there is heavy use of screens, particularly because of blue light. Myopia can also occur in the case of too frequent exposure.

What to do to protect yourself?

Since LED light has become in a few years the predominant source of our environment, it seems necessary to guard against its harmful effects.

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ANSES and its experts made some recommendations :

  • Sleep in a room plunged into darkness (including without standby light from electrical appliances) and do not use electronic devices before going to sleep.
  • Use as much natural light as possible during the day.
  • Limit the exposure to the "cold" LED (more than 4000 Kelvin) which produces more blue light than the "hot" LED (about 3000 Kelvin). Privilege it for the interior. You can find this temperature on the blister packaging.
  • Only purchase devices with the CE mark . To read our article on the subject, click here.
  • Place the LED bulb so that you are always at least 20 cm away . Closer, you could damage your eyes by fixing it too long.
  • Finally, avoid as much exposure as possible to Class 2 LED devices (flashlights, headlamps, garlands, etc.)

While there is still some hard data to determine about the risk associated with LED light, there are some simple principles to limit exposure that, at high doses, can be very harmful. Do not hesitate to share it with your customers!

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