This new technology has substituted incandescent lighting for LED, mainly because LED lighting is more efficient and lasts longer. To achieve the white light necessary to view the various screens, blue, green and red wavelength LEDs are joined to produce the neutral color of the viewing screen.
However, while this light has commercial benefits, it may not be good for eye health. Its Blue Light Hazard output is 200 percent higher than traditional incandescent lighting.
The human eye is designed to view a relatively small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. When exposed to higher energy levels of that spectrum, the retina’s focusing properties can be damaged. This happens because the LED light is focused into a small optical image, which creates what researchers term the “Blue Light Effect.”
The Blue Light Effect of short visible light causes damage to the retina structures. Worse, the damage is cumulative and thus compounds any damage over the lifetime. The blue light is believed to change the photochemical structures of the retina. Research on both animals and humans has shown that ultraviolet radiation at its highest levels causes cortical cataracts. While cataracts are also caused by a number of factors - diabetes, smoking and corticosteroid use - there is also a strong correlation to the amount of ambient ultraviolet light that the eye receives.