What Are the Dangers of Visible Light?
Blue-violet light on the visible light spectrum can cause damage to retina cells, increasing one’s risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, explains Essilor. Macular degeneration is an eye condition in which the portion of the retina involved with sharp, central vision deteriorates.
Macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of vision loss in one or both eyes for people over the age of 50, notes the National Eye Institute. A common first symptom of the disease is a blurry spot near the center of vision. As the disease progresses further, the blurry spot may grow in size. Affected individuals may notice blank spots in their central vision or that objects appear to have lost some of their brightness.
While other factors, such as smoking, family background, race and age, can also increase the risk of developing macular degeneration, protective eyewear can help filter out hazardous blue-violet light, according to Essilor.
In addition to visible blue-violet light, ultraviolet, or UV, light, which falls on the non-visible light spectrum, also poses a threat to eye health, notes Essilor. Cataracts and photokeratitis, the medical term for a sunburned cornea that can result in temporary blindness, are two conditions that can result from too much UV light exposure.
