We are living in the Digital Era

Until a few decades ago, we humans were exposed to natural sunlight during the day and complete darkness, or reddish light from fire and bonfire, in the evening. Today, we are constantly exposed to artificial blue light from digital screens, LED bulbs, street lights and more. The blue light comes from these light sources and an overexposure to this, especially after sunset is, scientifically proven negatively affecting your sleep, your productivity and your health. In the following some studies are listed that indicate just this.

Deteriorated productivity, irritated eyes and headaches

Let’s start by looking at how your productivity and work in front of the screen is potentially deteriorated. Overexposure to blue light can irritate your eyes and cause headaches, which you may have noticed yourself when you’ve been sitting in front of the computer for a long time. But why can it be so uncomfortable for the eyes to look at screens all day long? It might be that you may either suffer from what is called "Computer Vision Syndrome" (CVS) or have symptoms related to it. Symptoms may include shoulder / neck pain, headache, blurred vision or either dry or wet eyes. When you work in front of the screen your eye muscles are constantly at work. They need to focus all the time, focus sharply, look up and down and to the side.

Your screen adds "flicker" - Tiny flashing LED bulbs

To make matters worse, screens, as opposed to paper and books, also add what is called ‘flicker’. Flicker is your screen's small built-in LED bulbs that flash so flash that you do not even realise it. In reality you sit and stare into high-energy flashing light bulbs all day long, which also causes you to blink far less than you should. The symptoms of CVS are aggravated by improper lighting conditions around you (e.g. strong blue light-spectrum backlight and bright overlights). You get tired, your ability to concentrate decreases and you experience overworked eyes. Your productivity drops.

Artificial blue light can affect your sleep and health negatively

Let's go ahead and look at how your sleep and health can be affected by overexposure to blue light.

A study from the journal ‘Applied Ergonomics’ showed that 2 hours of exposure to bright blue light from a tablet in the evening reduces the level of our sleep hormone melatonin by a minimum of 22%, which can thus have a negative effect on your sleep. Melatonin is not just our sleep hormone, but also acts as a very important antioxidant in the body. An expert from Harvard Medical School writes that lower melatonin levels in the body can be linked to diseases such as cancer. This indication is also supported by this and this study.

Studies show that blue light lowers melatonin levels in the body

More and more studies indicate that blue light in excessive amounts, at the wrong times, can have negative health consequences. Now, several studies are simultaneously beginning to suggest the use of so-called blue light blocking glasses against this, which is exactly what Blux is.

For example, a study from the University of Toronto compared the melatonin levels in people exposed to bright indoor blue light wearing blue light blocking glasses with people exposed to normally dim light not wearing blue light blocking glasses. Melatonin levels were approximately the same in the two groups, which in turn strengthens the hypothesis that blue light suppresses melatonin production. The researchers in the study suggest that night workers and people up at night can protect themselves even if they wear glasses that shield from blue light.

Another study from the 'Journal of Adolescent Health' showed that a group of young healthy men (15-17 years), who wore blue light blocking glasses with orange glasses (our Midnight model), while using their smartphones a few hours before bedtime, felt “significantly more tired” than if they were just wearing glasses with clear lenses. Likewise, higher levels of melatonin were measured in the young people who just wore blue light blocking glasses. The study data showed that blue light blocking glasses can reduce the melatonin suppression induced by LED screens. Likewise, the study showed that the glasses can regulate sleepiness in late evening hours in this sample of male adolescents.

Another 2017 study from the journal 'Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics' prepared in collaboration with the University of Houston found that participants who wore blue light blocking glasses showed a 58% increase in melatonin levels during the night.

What is Blux? 

Blux are so-called "blue light blocking" glasses. They are designed to reduce the overexposure of the blue light by having a special polymer incorporated directly into the material of the glasses. They allow your eyes to relax more in front of screens by filtering out some of the energy-rich and shortwave light, as well as creating a better contrast on the screen. We offer both glasses with clear lenses or with orange lenses.

Blux - Day Edition 

The clear glasses are intended for daily use and reduced on average approx. 40% of the amount of blue light (~ 455 nm). Use them throughout the day to work more concentrated and reduce the headaches and irritated eyes you may experience from too much computer work.

Blux - Night Edition 

If you want to go ALL-IN you need to invest in a pair of Midnight glasses. The orange glasses are specially designed for evening use after sunset and reduce on average 75% of all blue light (380-500nm) and up to 92% of the most harmful wavelengths (~ 455nm) coming from your monitors and your bulbs. These glasses simulate the light in your surroundings as it would look without modern artificial blue light. And that's what your body is designed to be exposed to in the evening. The use of these glasses, especially in the evening, will improve your sleep pattern, the quality of your sleep and your health as a result. These glasses can easily be worn during the day even if you sit very intensely in front of a screen for a long time at a time.

We also offer glasses with prescription.

It is furthermore very important never to wear our glasses outside in daylight. It is crucial for good health and a good night's sleep to get enough of the good natural light from the sun every single day.

Here is a list of even more studies that indicate that blue light can be harmful and you should protect yourself against it:

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23237593 

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4898879/ 

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4863221/

- https://www.cell.com/trends/neurosciences/fulltext/S0166-2236(13)00197-5

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4414925/ 

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1896724

- https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn2868

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5703049/

- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15713707/

- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16842544/  

- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25264124/

- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/opo.12385

- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41514-019-0038-6

- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68119-7

- https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01413.2009

- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4313820/

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