Excessive blue light from gadgets ‘may accelerate aging process’

Too much screen time from multiple gadgets every day can speed up the body’s aging process, a new study has found.

Research conducted on fruit flies shows that our basic cellular functions could be impacted by the blue light on our phones, laptops and TVs.

Published in Frontiers in Aging, the study found that significant differences were found in the levels of metabolites in the heads of flies after prolonged blue light exposure compared to those kept in the dark.

“Excessive exposure to blue light from everyday devices, such as TVs, laptops, and phones, may have detrimental effects on a wide range of cells in our body, from skin and fat cells, to sensory neurons,” said Dr Jadwiga Giebultowicz, a professor at the Department of Integrative Biology at Oregon State University and senior author of this study.

The changes recorded by the researchers suggest that the cells are operating at suboptimal level, and this may cause their premature death, and further, explain their previous findings that blue light accelerates aging.

Dr Giebultowicz added: “LEDs have become the main illumination in display screens such as phones, desktops and TVs, as well as ambient lighting, so humans in advanced societies are exposed to blue light through LED lighting during most of their waking hours.

“The signalling chemicals in the cells of flies and humans are the same, so that there is potential for negative effects of blue light on humans.”

Delving further into the metabolites that the researchers measured, the professor said: “Succinate is essential for producing the fuel for the function and growth of each cell. High levels of succinate after exposure to blue light can be compared to gas being in the pump but not getting into the car.

“Another troubling discovery was that molecules responsible for communication between neurons, such as glutamate, are at the lower level after blue light exposure.”

However, Dr Giebultowicz suggested that humans are not exposed to light as intense as the “fairly strong” light they used on the flies.

A further study on human cells is needed to assess how similar the changes of metabolites would be in humans compared to the fruit flies, the professor said.