New research from Oregon State University shows that exposure to blue light can impact the development of fruit flies.
Blue light is emitted from electronic devices that we have around us, all the time. Phones, tablets, laptops, and televisions all emit blue light.
Animals naturally avoid exposure to blue light, as was shown by a recent study completed.
The blue wavelengths produced by light-emitting diodes impacted the development of the fruit flies in the study.
Scientists exposed fruit flies to varying levels of blue light, across different conditions.
In every instance, the fruit flies tried to avoid the blue light.
The flies that were exposed to the greatest amount of blue light showed the biggest changes in their development.
Some flies in the study were mutants that did not develop eyes. Even these flies were impacted by the blue light.
The scientists began to ask what specifically was causing the flies to grow differently.
“… we looked at the spectrum of light. It was very clear cut that although light without blue slightly shortened their lifespan, just blue light alone shortened their lifespan very dramatically.”
It is widely known that exposure to different light is essential for the proper functioning of our circadian rhythms and the ability to fall asleep.
We must be mindful of our own exposure to varying lights. Every day we can make choices to impact how much blue light we experience.
We always recommend using blue light blocking lenses when you will be exposed to blue light.
Maintaining healthy habits will serve you well throughout your life.
Source: Trevor R. Nash, Eileen S. Chow, Alexander D. Law, Samuel D. Fu, Elzbieta Fuszara, Aleksandra Bilska, Piotr Bebas, Doris Kretzschmar & Jadwiga M. Giebultowicz. Daily blue-light exposure shortens lifespan and causes brain neurodegeneration in Drosophila. npj Aging and Mechanisms of Disease, 2019 DOI: 10.1038/s41514-019-0038-6
Find BluTech Near You
