Blocking Blue Light

Background: Blue light and its negative effects have become increasingly more known to
the public, and in response many manufactures have developed various products.
Research has found that short wavelengths impact many physiological funct ions in the
body, but can also cause toxicity to retinal tissues. Finding the right product that fits the
patient's needs and is effective proves difficult for providers. The aim of this project is
to compare the effectiveness of various products to filter short wavelength blue, vi olet,
and ultraviolet light, so that patients and providers can pick the most appropriate
treatment.
Methods : Using a spectrophotometer, light transmission through various eyeglass lens
materials and blue light filtering products was mea sured. A 2014 MacBook Air 13"
laptop with an LED display screen at a 40 em testing distance was used as the measured
light source. The percent reduction of light transmiss ion was compa red among the
various filters. The light transmission of specifically blue light relative to overall
wavelength filtration was also compared.
Results: All of the lenses give some sort of reduction on the peak blue light radiance
transmission, ranging from 14.40% to 54.09% reduction . The computer display software
program filtered the most blue light with a 83.66% reduction. Relative to the overall
color filtration, the blue-blocking specific products filtered blue light more than the
standard lens materials.
Conclusion: The importance of the data collected from this project is that it provides
examiners and patients the ability to easily compare what products can reduce blue
light with measured values. This allows providers to confidently prescribe their patients
a product that filters varying amounts of blue light based on their everyday needs.