HEV Light & accelerated aging

Something new to worry about?

As you may know, HEV (High Energy Visible) Light is the blue end of the visible spectrum (400-450 nm) which merges into Ultra Violet. It is emitted by fluorescent and LED domestic lights, your computer, tablet, phone etc. (much less by the old, warm-light tungsten bulbs).

Exposure to it at night can muck up your circadian rhythm, and given its spectural proximity to UV radiation, overexposure to it is widely suspected to be somewhat harmful to skin and retinal cells.

A recent Oregon State University study gives more weight to those concerns. They exposed fruit flies to a 12 hour per day regime of HEV light and found:

The flies exposed to blue light showed damage to their retinal cells and brain neurons and had impaired locomotion—the flies' ability to climb the walls of their enclosures, a common behavior, was diminished.

Some of the flies in the experiment were mutants that do not develop eyes, and even those eyeless flies displayed brain damage and locomotion impairments, suggesting flies didn't have to see the light to be harmed by it....

It was very clear cut that although light without blue slightly shortened their lifespan, just blue light alone shortened their lifespan very dramatically.

Daily exposure to blue light may accelerate aging, even if it doesn't reach your eyes

Although the fruit fly shares cellular and developmental mechanisms with us, it cannot be assumed HEV light will affect us in the same way. Nor can it be assumed that it won't.

It should be remembered though that by far the greatest source of HEV light is the sun, and in moderate doses it is important for our health. Personally, after reading this, I've taken some measures to limit exposure. There are inbuilt computer settings for turning it down, apps and filtering films you can apply.

a reply to: EvilAxis

I have tons of houseplants that stay on the patio during warm weather but I have to bring them in from around October until April or May due to cooler temps and they are mostly tropical in nature. I have very limited space in our small one bedroom apartment and it is already difficult to make space for all of the plants, but I have to be extremely careful about placing them a safe distance from the television (it is an LED television) because if any of them are placed even a few inches too close to it no matter how well I care for it death occurs swiftly. I also have to be extremely careful in the same manner and for the same reasons with the wifi router.

If LED light and wifi signals can kill previously thriving plants so quickly I wonder what they are doing to our brains and bodies?

a reply to: EvilAxis

What is the life span of a welder vs. the average trades-person?

This is a non issue.

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
..if any of them are placed even a few inches too close to it no matter how well I care for it death occurs swiftly.

That sounds alarming. Anyone else noticed this?

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme
a reply to: EvilAxis

What is the life span of a welder vs. the average trades-person?

This is a non issue.

I suspect the short-lived welders don't take the dangers seriously. You can effectively eliminate exposure to UV by wearing the proper gear. Meanwhile, most of us stare for hours at our screens oblivious to any harm from radiation.

a reply to: EvilAxis

That's a wonderful assumption. I have been welding for a decade and a half plus.

You are an individual who laps up doom without knowledge.
The sky is not falling.

originally posted by: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk
a reply to: EvilAxis

I have tons of houseplants that stay on the patio during warm weather but I have to bring them in from around October until April or May due to cooler temps and they are mostly tropical in nature. I have very limited space in our small one bedroom apartment and it is already difficult to make space for all of the plants, but I have to be extremely careful about placing them a safe distance from the television (it is an LED television) because if any of them are placed even a few inches too close to it no matter how well I care for it death occurs swiftly. I also have to be extremely careful in the same manner and for the same reasons with the wifi router.

If LED light and wifi signals can kill previously thriving plants so quickly I wonder what they are doing to our brains and bodies?

Plants aren't humans.

I read this a few days ago. They knew it hurt the eyes of seniors, causing macular degeneration. Older people's eyes do not heal themselves as young so they are at most risk. But think of it, young people's eyes will age more too, they will use up more stem cells or cause division to regenerate bad cells. So they will have a problem too as telomeres shorten with cell division.

So the same holds true with the skin too they say. A fly is thin, the light can penetrate it and effect it half way through. Our skin is thicker, but it also has circulation with all sorts of immune and blood cells interacting with the skin. So, it is not just the skin that is aging. I feel that Being in LED light for five hours a day may be as bad as being in the sun for an hour.

I'm calling BS on this. The only credible info I can find on this says that most of the research into it is unproven and/or not peer reviewed.

a reply to: EvilAxis

Well to much exposure to all that. Is not a good thing. Fortunately humans are a bit more adept to such things, then plants.

But only a bit. Either way, the day your born, is the day you start dying. Anything and everything kills and can kills you.

I suppose its about moderation.

Color doesn’t actually exist and only exists in the way we perceive things as humans. I find it difficult to believe that something that doesn’t actually exist causes damage to us unless the damage is caused simply through the act of perceiving. It is interesting and I would want to know how our perception of the world can cause physical damage to our bodies.

originally posted by: BrianFlanders
I'm calling BS on this. The only credible info I can find on this says that most of the research into it is unproven and/or not peer reviewed.

I might have agreed with you until this study was published. It is pretty unequivocal and published in a reputable peer-reviewed journal (Aging and Mechanisms of Disease,).

As it is so damaging to fruit flies, it seems reasonable to apply the precautionary principle, at least until more is known of its effect on humans, particularly as our exposure has increased exponentially in recent decades.

originally posted by: Metallicus
Color doesn’t actually exist and only exists in the way we perceive things as humans.

The same could be said for almost everything that exists - doesn't mean it won't harm you. By your reasoning UV radiation don't exist at all because we can't perceive it. Curious how it burns your skin then.

Most people are not using 6500K LEDs anyway. The "bluest" ones I have are 5000k (I have them in the laundry room and the closet) and most of the ones I have are around 3000k.

Which is all beside the point. Stores, warehouses and offices have been using ~6500k fluorescent lighting for decades. Before LEDs, those gigantic fluorescent tubes were the most efficient way to light a large space like a huge grocery store or even a basement or a garage. Every school I ever attended was lit by fluorescent lighting and all of those kids I went to school with can still see and will probably live into their 80s or 90s.

Most of the LED bulbs that people buy are almost the same color temperature as old style incandescent bulbs. Because (as it turns out) people like that better anyway.

As usual, just fear mongering.

Oh. And BTW. Daylight on an overcast day is ~6500k

I bring my plants in as well for the winter. They sit in front of a bay window covered by a thin sheet so some light does get in but I have a 4 foot long led light over them 24/7 until late spring each year. I usually even keep a tomato plant going but passed this year because it hasn't proven to get me any tomatoes any earlier. I also have kept chives, parsley and cilantro going for much of the winter. My plants haven't suffered at all. I keep aloe, a large lily, jade plant, some cacti, and those mentioned above.

I have been doing this for several years. I'm not saying the claims are false, just that I haven't noticed it in my life. I replaced all my lights with LED when they became affordable. I also haven't noticed any issues with debilitated fruit flies but if that worked, I would bathe my kitchen in LED. I HAVE found that by placing my fruit in an old, thin pillow case, it's pretty effective preventing fruit flies though. I can still leave fruit in a bowl on the counter and unfold the pillow case top to get my fresh fruit.