Scientific Research on Blue Light

We have done our research

We are not just a typical blue light glasses company trying to sell you products with no research or understanding of how light interacts with our biology. A lot of careful research and development has been done to ensure our products align with the science. We have immersed ourselves in all the academic research so we fully understand this topic and we can proudly call ourselves true experts in all things to do with blue and artificial light mitigation.

We ensure all of our products are evidence based, and align with the academic research to make them are the most optimal available. Our products have full transparency on all of the light filtering specifications so you can see exactly what wavelengths of light are being blocked and filtered.

Don't just take our word for it, on this page we have compiled a growing collection of some of the top independent scientific studies from all over the world, so you can learn more about the issues with blue and artificial light exposure and the science behind why all of our products work, and why we have developed them to very precise specifications.

We also write our own articles based on a lot of the research below plus many more sources, we put the content into much easier to understand format for the average person, you can read all our articles on light, health, and sleep on the BlockBlueLight Blog.

Studies on the benefits of blue light blocking glasses

Blue light blocking glasses are the core products that started our business, it is critical to understand the science behind them so we understand why they are such an important product to use to optimise our light environment in the modern world.

We have written some articles on the topic of blue light glasses, explain how they work and what to look out for when purchasing a pair:
- Not all Blue Light Blocking Glasses Are Created Equal, Which Blue Light Glasses Are The Best?
- How Do Blue Light Glasses Work?

Title Of Study	Publication Journal
Blocking nocturnal blue light for insomnia: A randomized controlled trial (2018) "Our underlying theory is that the reduction in blue-light exposure is the likely mechanism whereby amber lenses, compared to clear lenses, improve sleep in individuals with insomnia symptoms."	Journal of Psychiatric Research
Blue Blocker Glasses as a Countermeasure for Alerting Effects of Evening Light-Emitting Diode Screen Exposure in Male Teenagers (2014) “We conclude that the use of [blue light-blocking] glasses in male adolescents while sitting in front of an LED screen in the evening can attenuate melatonin suppression and alerting effects before sleep. BB glasses therefore have the potential to acutely impede the negative effects modern lighting imposes on circadian physiology in the evening.”	Journal of Adolescent Health
Protective effect of blue-light shield eyewear for adults against light pollution from self-luminous devices used at night (2015) "Our results show that, according to some sleep indices, sleep quality is significantly better in healthy adults after using the blue-light shield eyewear while using self-luminous portable devices at night."	The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research
Blue blocker glasses impede the capacity of bright light to suppress melatonin production (2006) "Blue blockers represent an elegant means to prevent the light-induced melatonin suppression." “Our data show that, irrespective of gender, orange lens glasses can effectively block the capacity, of a 1-hr light pulse of 1300 lx in the eye, to suppress melatonin production.”	Journal of Pineal Research
Amber lenses to block blue light and improve sleep: a randomized trial (2009) "The amber lens group experienced significant improvement in sleep quality relative to the control group."	The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research
Treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder insomnia with blue wavelength light-blocking glasses (2013) "Subjects completing the study showed subjectively reduced anxiety and improved sleep quality on multiple measures."	ChronoPhysiology and Therapy
Bigger, Brighter, Bluer-Better? Current light-emitting devices – adverse sleep properties and preventative strategies (2015) "Both the orange-tinted glasses and the “sleep-aware” app significantly reduced short-wavelength emissions."	Frontiers in public health
Wearing Blue-Blockers in the Morning Could Improve Sleep of Workers on a Permanent Night Schedule: A Pilot Study (2010) "Blue-blockers seem to improve daytime sleep of permanent night-shift workers."	The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research
Use of modified spectacles and light bulbs to block blue light at night may prevent postpartum depression (2009) "All new mothers may benefit from using glasses and light bulbs that block blue light when getting up at night to care for their babies."	Medical Hypotheses
Dark therapy for bipolar disorder using amber lenses for blue light blockade (2007) "Use of amber lenses to produce evening ‘‘virtual darkness’’ should produce a circadian phase advance."	Medical Hypotheses
Blue-blocking glasses as additive treatment formania: a randomized placebo-controlled trial (2016) "Blue Blocker glasses are effective and feasible as add-on treatment for bipolar mania."	Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Recent studies provide an updated clinical perspective on blue light-filtering IOLs (2010) "Implantation of blue light-filtering IOLs which mimic the natural human lens should be considered as a safe and relatively inexpensive preventive measure to reduce the potential risk for retinal phototoxicity and its associated potential risk for AMD in pseudophakic eyes."	Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol

Scientific evidence showing green light exposure impacts melatonin levels

Green light is the reason we have developed our proprietary nightfall red lens technology. Exposure to green light wavelengths at night has also been shown to have massive impacts on our sleep, and therefore overall health. The science shows that we really need to protect ourselves from not only blue light, but also green light up to 550nm to ensure optimal melatonin levels. Below is a breakthrough study for determining the optimal range of artificial light to block at night, and the results clearly show that the major disruption zone for our sleep hormones melatonin is between 400 - 550nm.

Title Of Study

Publication Journal

Action Spectrum for Melatonin Regulation in Humans: Evidence for a Novel Circadian Photoreceptor

"Polychromatic action spectra were reasonably consistent in indicating that the spectral region between 400nm and 550nm provides the strongest. stimulation of circadian and neuroendocrine responses."
This means is the wavelengths of light between 400 - 550nm should be completely blocked for optimal melatonin secretion after dark.

The Journal of Neuroscience

Scientific studies on the negative effects of artificial and blue light exposure on our health

This is a group of studies that looking at how more generally blue and artificial light exposure interacts with our biology and is negatively impacting or overall health.

We have written an extensive article on how blue light is negatively impacting our health: How Blue Light Is Wreaking Havoc on Your Sleep, Making You Fat, & Destroying Your Health

Title Of Study	Publication Journal
Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults (2022) ocular light exposure influences many aspects of human physiology and behaviour, including circadian rhythms, sleep, and alertness (both via circadian system–dependent and circadian system–independent routes), mood, neuroendocrine, and cognitive functions.	PLOS Biology
Evening light exposure to computer screens disrupts human sleep, biological rhythms, and attention abilities (2017) "Given the widespread use of electronic devices today, our findings suggest that screen light exposure at evening may have detrimental effects on human health and performance."	Chronobiology International
Association between light at night, melatonin secretion, sleep deprivation, and the internal clock: Health impacts and mechanisms of circadian disruption (2017) "Exposure to Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) results in a disruption of the circadian system, which is deleterious to health." "The IARC has classified shift work in group 2A of “probable carcinogens to humans” since “they involve a circadian disorganization.”	Life Sciences
Effects of Light on Cognitive Brain Responses Depend on Circadian Phase and Sleep Homeostasis (2011) "Shorter wavelength light exposure increases ongoing nonvisual cognitive activity in subcortical and cortical brain areas."	Journal of biological rhythms
Entrainment of the Human Circadian System by Light (2005) "Entrainment is a fundamental property of circadian systems by which the period of the internal clock is synchronized to the period of the entraining stimuli. An important aspect of entrainment in humans is the maintenance of an appropriate phase relationship between the circadian system, the timing of sleep and wakefulness, and environmental time (a.k.a. the phase angle of entrainment) to maintain wakefulness throughout the day and consolidated sleep at night."	Journal of biological rhythms
The Impact of Light in Buildings on Human Health (2010) "Exposure to light can have both positive and negative impacts on human health."	Indoor and Built Environment
Artificial light at night: a neglected population health concern of the built environment (2014) "Artificial light at night (ALAN) is mentioned as disturbing sleep."	Health Promotion Journal of Australia
Brain Responses to Violet, Blue, and Green Monochromatic Light Exposures in Humans: Prominent Role of Blue Light and the Brainstem (2007) "We demonstrate that a few tens of seconds of light induce immediate and significant wavelength dependent changes in brain activity."	PLOS one
What's in a color? The unique human health effects of blue light (2010) “Some people consider the progress in the field of light and health over the last couple of years as the most important light induced innovation since the invention of the light bulb”	Environmental Health Perspectives
Even dim light before bedtime may disrupt a preschooler’s sleep (2022) "A new study of preschoolers finds that exposure to even very low intensities of light before bedtime can sharply reduce production of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, interfering with sleep. It suggests that young children are highly susceptible to the physiological impacts of light at night and some kids are more sensitive than others."	Science Daily
Blue light activates pulvinar nuclei in longstanding idiopathic photophobia: A case report	Science Direct

Scientific evidence showing how artificial blue light can cause eye damage

While getting healthy amounts of natural blue light during the day has many health benefits, being exposed to artificial sources of blue light from screens, devices, and LED and fluorescent lighting exposures us to very high levels of unnatural blue light, which studies clearly show this can lead to permanent eye damage. Symptoms can manifest in the form of sore and dry eyes, eye strain, headaches and migraines, and can even lead to conditions such as macular degeneration.

Here are some related articles we have written on this subject:
- Does Blue Light Cause Eye Damage?
- Digital Eye Strain from Screens and Artificial Lighting – How to Avoid it in the Modern World

Let’s take a look at the evidence in the academic literature on what artificial sources of blue light can do to our eyes.

Title Of Study	Publication Journal
Research progress about the effect and prevention of blue light on eyes (2018) "short-wave blue light with wavelength between 415 nm and 455 nm is closely related to eye light damage. This high energy blue light passes through the cornea and lens to the retina causing diseases such as dry eye, cataract, age-related macular degeneration" "harmful blue light-induced effects on human eyes should not be ignored, blue light can also produce different degree of damage to corneal, crystal lens and retina. Therefore, it is necessary to take appropriate protective measures when using blue light-related products"	International journal of ophthalmology
Retinal damage induced by commercial light emitting diodes (LEDs) (2015) "The blue component of LED is the major cause of retinal damage" "LED light caused a state of suffering of the retina with oxidative damage and retinal injury. We observed a loss of photoreceptors and the activation of caspase-independent apoptosis, necroptosis, and necrosis"	Free Radical Biology and Medicine
Removal of the blue component of light significantly decreases retinal damage after high intensity exposure (2018) "Retinal photodamage caused by a conventional light source (cold) can become chronic if exposure is high and long enough. In contrast, the use of blue-blocking filters can significantly alleviate the functional loss of retinal photosensitive cells. Therefore, these filters might be an effective mechanism to protect us from ocular pathologies"	PLOS one
Influence of Light Emitting Diode-Derived Blue Light Overexposure on Mouse Ocular Surface (2016) "Overexposure to blue light with short wavelengths can induce oxidative damage and apoptosis to the cornea, which may manifest as increased ocular surface inflammation and resultant dry eye."	PLOS one
Bystander effects elicited by single-cell photo-oxidative blue-light stimulation in retinal pigment epithelium cell networks (2017) "blue LED light has been shown to induce more damage than white or green light, and induce ROS production and lipid peroxidation in RPE cells, resulting in apoptotic cell death. Finally, intense blue light can cause mitochondrial and nuclear DNA damage."	Cell Death Discovery

Scientific studies on the negative effects of flicker from LED and Fluorescent lighting

Its important to look beyond just the high blue light output in our modern lighting, as there are other aspects of it such as flicker which is causing harm to our health. The studies below look at what flicker is and what impacts it is having on our health.

We have also written articles on the issues with modern lighting and cover the topic of flicker. You can read them here:
- The Horrors Of Working And Living Under Fluorescent & LED lights and LED
- Fluorescent Light Health Concerns: The Plot Thickens

Title Of Study	Publication Journal
Light Emitting Diode Lighting Flicker, its Impact on Health and the Need to Minimise it (2019) "It is seen that with LED sources the severity and range of flicker is relatively very high when compared to conventional lights." "The various adverse effects of flicker include eye strain, fatigue, headache, migraine, blurred vision as well as photo epilepsy in sensitive individuals"	Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research
The impact of flicker from fluorescent lighting on well-being, performance and physiological arousal (1998) "The purpose of the study was to compare the impact on subjective well-being, performance and physiological arousal of fluorescent light powered by conventional and high-frequency ballasts."	National Library of Medicine
Potential Biological and Ecological Effects of Flickering Artificial Light (2014) "Flickering light has been shown to have detrimental effects in humans and other species."	PLOS One

Scientific studies on the negative effects of blue light exposure to the skin

Protecting your eyes from blue light is only part of the problem. The receptors in our eyes that respond to blue light also exist throughout our skin. Using blue light blocking glasses does not provide adequate protection from blue light, as your skin is still exposed to the biggest source of artificial light in your home, which is LED and conventical lighting. Blue (and green) light hitting your skin at night can also disrupt your sleep and circadian rhythms. The studies below look at how blue light interacts with our skin.

Read our article ”Do We Need to Protect Our Skin from Blue Light?” to find out more about this.

Title Of Study

Publication Journal

Subcutaneous white adipocytes express a light sensitive signaling pathway mediated via a melanopsin/TRPC channel axis (2017)

"It is clear that centrally mediated circadian rhythms play an important role in human health."

Scientific Reports

Blue Light Induces Mitochondrial DNA Damage and Free Radical Production in Epithelial Cells (2005)

"Blue light damage is not an uncommon feature of the skin and eye."

The Journal of Biological Chemistry

Blue Light In The Media

Blue light has been covered extensively by a lot of well respected and credible media outlets around the world. These are not scientific studies, but credible news articles reporting and summarising all the growing evidence and studies that have been done.

Harvard Health Publishing “Blue light has a dark side” (2015)
Rodriguez. Advanced Sleep Medicine Services "Why You Should Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses Tonight."(2014)
Chicago tribune Light from electronic screens at night linked to sleep loss (2012)
VSP Vision Care. (video)"Blue Light And The Effects On Our Eyes" (2015)
Psychology Today “Blocking Blue Light Helps Sleep?"(2013)
International Business Times “Sleep Faster With A Pair Of Orange-Tinted Eyeglasses” (2015)
The Conversation. “Can wearing orange-tinted glasses before bed help you sleep? Only one way to find out… “Can wearing orange-tinted glasses before bed help you sleep? Only one way to find out…” (2015)
Health Line "Blue Light and Sleep: What's the Connection?" (2020)
Psychology Today “Blocking Blue Light Helps Sleep?”(2013)
Fox News (video) "How blue light affects children’s eye health”(2014)
Scientific American “Q&A: Why Is Blue Light before Bedtime Bad for Sleep?”(2015)
Los Angeles Times “Reading on iPad before bed can affect sleep habits” (2010)