The student is on their phone, squinting their eyes in the darkness of their bedroom.
The bright light emanating from the iPhone makes it feel like there are two 100 pound weights on their eyes and sleep will simply not come. Even with the phone on the lowest possible brightness setting, it still hurts their eyes.
“I use Night Shift, because it’s less strain on my eyes,” senior Joseph Boumansour said.
Night Shift is an iOS 9.3 update on iPhones programmed to give off a warmer, less blue, hue. Blue and yellow light are different energies and wavelengths on the light spectrum. Since warmer colors emit a lower frequency on the light spectrum, the eyes won’t be harmed as badly, according to livescience.com.
“Blue light can interfere with sleep, therefore the brain gets confused,” Emily Carlson, O.D, said. “Exposure to blue light from a phone can pause production of melatonin, an important chemical in the brain.”
Melatonin is a hormone produced in the pineal gland, which controls sleep cycles. Continuous disruption of those sleep cycles causes a person to get less rest. Lack of sleep can cause major health concerns and lower immunity.
Blue light can reduce the strength of the body’s immune system. A weakened immunity will make the body more susceptible to serious, diseases and illnesses—such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, according to livescience.com.
“Night Shift only helps with part of the problem,” Robert Finlay, O.D, said. “But people are constantly on their phones and damage is still occurring.”
Artificial light pushes sleep patterns to the limit. As we move into an increasingly more technological world, surrounded by technology, exposure to harmful light has increased.
Apple isn’t the only company dedicated to changing its technologies. The Amazon Fire tablet offers ‘Blue shade’ limiting the blue light given from the device, reducing health risks to their customers.
The only way people can truly avoid eye damage is to limit electronic device use during both day and night. Taking mild breaks from screens and unplugging for a while is important, as it lowers the risk of further eye damage, according to allaboutvision.com
“I’d love to use night shift if my phone did it, but I have an old phone. It’s something I’m looking for in my next upgrade,” junior Bridgette Tepper said.