What is Blue Light and is it bad?
Blue Light, sometimes also referred to as HEV light (High Energy Visible Light), is the high energy part of the visible light spectrum. Natural blue light comes from the sun, and it is one of the reasons why the sky looks blue. Natural exposure to blue light helps the human body to regulate its sleep and wake cycles, this is also known as our circadian rhythm. It is also said to boost alertness, help memory, cognitive function and elevate mood. As the sun sets and the amount of blue light emitted is reduced the body creates Melatonin which is the hormone that encourages your body to sleep.
As technology has advanced, our exposure to artificial blue light has increased. Artificial blue light comes from TV’s, smartphones, computers, and laptops as well as LED and fluorescent lighting. Our increased exposure to artificial blue light can disrupt the body’s natural sleep and wake cycle making it harder to sleep at night as well as causing eyestrain, fatigue, and headaches.
How can I tackle Blue Light Fatigue?
If prolonged exposure to digital devices is an issue, then there are a few ways to help alleviate the strain
You could try to reduce your screen time and take frequent breaks to try and decrease exposure to blue light. This is not always possible if you work in front of a screen all day.
Blue Light filters are available that can be attached to screens to filter the amount of blue light that the screen emits. These may not always be available for the product that you require it for, and my not be practical for everyone.
Blue light blocking glasses are glasses without magnification that filter down blue light and reduce glare. London Mole Blue Blockers are rated at -30% BLPF and all feature Scratch Resistant Lenses, Hydrophobic coating and Anti-Glare.
How are Blue Blockers Rated?
Blue Blockers are given a Blue Light Protection Factor (BLPF). The BLPF measures the amount of blue light that is protected from the eyes, in the same way SPF (Sunlight Protection factor) measures how much your skin is protected from sunlight by suncream.
London Mole Blue Blockers are -30% BLPF, this means they filter out 30% of the High Energy Blue Light. This provides a good balance between having a lens that is both protecting the eyes and is also very clear, with only the smallest amount of warm tint when viewed. Glasses that provide more protection will always be more tinted and will skew the colours around you.
As well as being -30% BLPF, all of our blue blockers are UV400 rated which means they also block out 100% of the harmful UV light that surrounds us every day.
