True or false junior answers questions about blue light and cell phone waves
Cairo: Mai Kamal El-Din
While the use of mobile phones was at the heart of the news this week, with the idea of a “digital break” for middle school students mentioned by the Minister of National Education, The true or false junior is interested, Friday April 12, in the impact of screens on health. And in particular the light and waves they emit. Serge Picaud, director of the Vision Institute, one of the most important research centers in Europe on sight-related diseases, answers questions from students at the André Derain colleges in Yvelines and Jules Ferry in the ‘Essonne, and Jean Perrin, in Hauts-de-Seine.
“Is it true that the blue light emitted by screens is dangerous for the eyes?” asks François. “The blue light from screens is so weak that nothing, no scientific study has demonstrated the toxicity of blue light from screens, explains Serge Picaud. We know that blue light from the sun can be toxic, we have shown it. Blue light is known to be a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
AMD is a vision disease that appears after the age of 50 and progresses gradually. People who suffer from it are less able to distinguish objects and faces. Eventually, they can lose central vision in the retina. AMD develops in men or women whose eyes have been exposed to a lot of sunlight and who have not adequately protected them with glasses.
“Is it true that teenagers lack sleep because of blue light from screens?” Nolan asks. There are two types of blue light. On the one hand, there is blue-violet light which is toxic to the eyes, this is the one that Serge Picaud was talking about. The sun emits a lot, but cell phones very little. On the other hand, there is the turquoise blue light emitted by the sun and also by the cell phone screen. It is not dangerous for the eyes but it can prevent you from sleeping, confirms Serge Picaud.
“If we use screens that are very bright when going to bed, this turquoise blue light will activate our so-called non-visual circuits in the eye and which will activate us, which will wake us up. And this is to that’s what we often say, continues the doctor of neuroscience, when we are in jet lag abroad, at midday, we have to go out into the sun for a bit to activate these same circuits and therefore absorb a lot of this turquoise blue light which will wake us up and which will resynchronize our internal clock. This clock, if we activate it at bedtime, it will give us bad information and instead of wanting to sleep, we will on the contrary want to wake up, do other things, not to be able to sleep when, particularly if you are a teenager, you should sleep to be able to properly metabolize everything you have learned during the day.
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