Blue light is everywhere

Man-made sources of blue light include fluorescent and LED lighting, flat-screen televisions, and the display screens of computers, notebooks, smartphones and other digital devices.

Our main natural source of blue light is the sun and we are most exposed to it when we are outdoors during daylight hours. This is where the most damage occurs and children are vulnerable to it as are more likely to spend a significant amount of time outdoors.

Why is blue light harmful?

Increased risk of macular degeneration – because blue light is the most energetic visible wavelength it is suspected to damage the light-sensitive cells in the retina and this may be an important contributing factor to permanent vision loss.
After cataract surgery, you should ask your surgeon what type of Intraocular lens (IOL) he will use to replace your cloudy natural lens at your cataract surgery and how much harmful blue light protection that the new lens will provide because you may benefit from glasses that have lenses with a special blue light filter to reduce eye strain and improve your visual comfort.
Blue light contributes to digital eye strain – This is less dangerous than the effects of the blue light from the sun, digital eye strain is something we are all at risk of. Most people spend up to 12 hours a day in front of a screen and it takes as little as two hours to cause digital eye strain. Dry eyes, eye strain, headaches and tired eyes are all common results of staring at screens for too long. Blue light exposure from computers and other digital devices can be reduced with special computer glasses.

Choosing the right lenses to protect me from Blue Light

Indoor

We can’t seem to escape blue light even indoors with all the devices, computers or TV. For those who spend the majority of their time indoors, computer glasses like Eyezen protect your eyes from extended exposure to blue light and help relax your vision reducing digital eye strain.

Some modern progressive lens designs like the Varilux X Series are also optimised for computers, devices and blue light.

Outdoors

Ultimately the sun produces the strongest and most potentially harmful short wavelength light, so simply protecting our eyes against man-made sources isn’t enough.

For protection, it is necessary to use lens coatings to filter out the harmful blue light and let in the good. This will ensure constant protection for your eyes without affecting your vision at all.

Sunglasses and Transitions lenses block a significant proportion of harmful light and are the best option outdoor eyewear in bright light like the beach, on the boat or up the mountain.

Both indoor and outdoors

Clear protective lens coatings like Crizal, are perfect for indoor and outdoor use, making it a convenient solution to the harmful blue light.

Even clear lenses can have a tint free blue light absorbing filter. Smart Blue Filter™ is embedded protection in the lens. The molecules in Smart Blue Filter™ absorb 20% of harmful blue-violet light from 415nm-455nm while allowing beneficial blue-turquoise light to pass through the lens. Ask us about the Smart Blue Filter™

Transitions GEN8 provide the fastest change from light to dark and dark to light. In general the technology in the lens harnesses the light energy to drive the tinting process. Below shows the performance of the previous generation Transitions Signature VII.