Are Full Spectrum LED Lights Bad for Your Eyes?

If you’re someone who often spends long hours under the Full spectrum LED lights in your office, grow room or reading through paperwork, it’s essential for you to know: “ Are Full- Spectrum LED Lights bad for your Eyes?”

Know that the full-spectrum LED light covers all wavelengths on the visible and invisible light spectrum, which is truly similar to viewing natural daylight. When you employ full spectrum led grow lights in your spaces, you can experience a more natural, ‘real-life’ viewing, bring a more natural illumination to a room or properly highlight the natural colours of a space or product.

As they replicate the sun, it’s thought to be a superior form of lighting that contains the exact nutrients. Well that’s true…. That’s why you majorly find them in various settings such as offices, homes and industries.

But on the flip side, you may also got to read about full spectrum LEDs being associated with a harmful substance toxic to humans eyes, but ...the reality is “it’s harmful to an extent when you stare at it directly”. So, try not to build that closeness to it.

And when you employ Phlizon LED grow lights for your plants, this issue will no longer be your concern because the manufacturer has done all the safety homework for you.

They emit a continuous and a minimum harsh wavelength that’s suitable for both humans and plants. And on top of it, their heat dissipation property prevents extreme heat generation which substantially minimizes the risk of burns and fire hazards.

Obviously, the bodies we own are unique systems that have evolved because of our environment, it's just as delicate as the ecosystems we observe in nature. So a little carefulness is what we expect.

In order to make you aware of the whole thing, this blog provides a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of the potential benefits and risks of full-spectrum LED lights for ocular health.

Understanding Full Spectrum LED Lights

A. Definition and Characteristics

Full Spectrum LED lights constitute a higher broadband light spectrum, possessing a 6500K color temperature and a CRI of greater or equal to 95. They are white lights with a mixture of green, red, and blue wavelengths. Broad-spectrum LEDs mimic sunlight to stimulate crop development and promote human health.

LED lighting outperforms traditional incandescent and fluorescent lighting in several ways, with the primary difference being highly energy efficient. LED lights use 25% to 80% less direct power than incandescent lights (typical light bulbs) or fluorescent lights (tubular lights or bulbs) due to energy loss in their process.

LED lights such as Phlizon PH-series are, unquestionably, safer in many instances, as they produce less heat and last much longer, with a lifespan of 30 times longer than an incandescent bulb and 3 to 5 times longer than a CFL.

B.  Applications and Advantages

As humans, we’re used to seeing things in natural light. Our reference for colour and vibration is based on what we see daily in the sunlight.

Of course, this sun doesn’t shine indoors in our showroom, museum, or art gallery. That’s where full-spectrum light shows its unique potential. Its ability to produce a multitude of different emission spectra is what makes it more ideal than other lighting systems.

Full-spectrum light emulates a highly correlated color temperature (CCT), ranging from 5000K to 6000K and covers the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to near-ultraviolet.

Due to their versatility and energy efficiency, Full-spectrum grow light LED lamps rapidly became the standard lighting technology in many applications and have become the only option in many commercial areas.

Older versions of these lamps were considered too harsh for indoor use, but the latest variants transcend that judgment.

Full-spectrum LEDs provide natural and attractive-looking colours, most dominantly during retail display lighting, store lighting, museums, or art galleries where accurate color rendering is essential.

Lighting with a high CRI is equally valuable for use in buildings, as it can transform a room by highlighting design details and creating a comfortable, natural overall atmosphere.

Its usage expands to areas requiring high spectral quality, such as surgical lights, eye protection lights, museum lighting, and high-end lighting.

In short, Phlizon Grow lights attempt to serve those plants that lack natural daylight exposure, whether due to geographic location, workspace design or the architecture of your home.

Although these light sources will inevitably fall short of 100% replicating natural daylight, the extent to which a full spectrum light source comes nearer to natural daylight determines a significant role in judging its effectiveness.

The Eye and Light Exposure

   A. Basics of Eye Anatomy and Function

The light-interpreting operations inside our eyes are far beyond what we simply think. It takes many cells — finally, to the brain — for the eyes to make sense of light.

Light enters our eyes through a tough outer tissue called the cornea. This protects the delicate inner eye from everything the world might throw at it.

Light passes right through the cornea into a transparent, flexible tissue called the lens. This lens focuses the light, sending it through the retina, which accommodates millions of light-sensitive cells known as rods and cones.

Know that the rods on the retina are sensitive to light intensity; they aren't able to differentiate between lights of different wavelengths. On the other hand, the cones are the colour-sensing cells of the retina. When light of a given wavelength hits the eye and strikes the retina cones, a chemical reaction is generated that results in an electrical impulse being sent along optic nerves to the brain.

Ultimately, the brain turns the signs into the images you see.

   B. How Different Light Spectrums Affect the Eye

Every day our eyes are exposed to different light colours, each containing a unique wavelength. Within the extensive range of frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, our eyes can only respond to a very narrow band of frequencies referred to as the visible light spectrum. Visible light - that is detectable by the human eye - comes under wavelengths ranging from approximately 400nm to 700nm.

You’ll be surprised to know that the blue part of the light spectrum helps to regulate our biological clock: stabilising our circadian rhythm and helping the body and mind to be able to sleep at night.

However, the good part can be diminished by our prolonged exposure to it, largely because of the exposure to fluorescent bulbs and daily use of digital devices and LED systems.

Other coloured lights that can also affect your eyes are yellow and green lights. Though green lights help regulate the circadian rhythm, an overexposure to it at night, similar to blue light, can reset the clock, disturbing off the natural rhythm.

Potential Risks of Full Spectrum LED Lights

The advent of full-spectrum artificial lighting diode in everyday applications has renewed research on whether or not its spectral profile poses some serious health risks.

As per proven studies, exposure to full-spectrum LEDs may become ‘photo-toxic and lead you to a host of problems- only if you spend time under them without the protective covering.

You may tend to develop symptoms such as visual fatigue, eye diseases, ageing of retinal tissue, sleep disturbances, and loss in vision sharpness.

As long as you’re at safe hands and using the Phlizon full spectrum grow lights with precautionary measures, the power advantage would harm you in any way.

Both chronic exposure' (being exposed to low-intensity sources over a long period) and 'acute exposure' (such as staring at a very strong light for a short while) have reported health concerns among many.

   A. Blue Light Hazards

The brief, high-intensity blue light within this broader spectrum (in a range of 400 to 500 nanometers) is the area of concern that is actually very problematic. Blue light exposure provokes photochemical reactions in most eye tissues, particularly the cornea, the lens, and the retina. It disrupts your body’s natural circadian rhythm, signalling to your brain that you need to be awake when you want to sleep.

In fact, this circadian rhythm disruption aggravates metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some forms of cancer.

Also, blue light is known to trigger eye strain issues, particularly for those with existing medical conditions associated with migraines and seizures. This is due to the fact that  LEDs produce an incredibly faint flicker so fast that you wouldn't notice it!

The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety differentiates blue lights into two types:" warm white", which is found in home LED lighting to have weak phototoxicity risks, and the high-intensity "cool white" emitted by sources such as auto headlights, the latest flashlights, and some toys to be considerably more harmful.

IMPORTANT! Children and teenagers are susceptible to its harmful effects because their crystalline lenses aren’t fully formed, so they don’t fully filter blue light. And who doesn’t know a teen who isn’t glued to their smartphone day and night?

   B. Glare and Intensity

Short-wavelength or high-density energy light rays, usually with wavelengths between 415 nm and 455 nm, are closely related to eyesight damage. If they appear to be intense, they can possibly cause macular degeneration and discomfort glare.

This happens when a light source is intense, greater than surrounding objects. This results in the scattering of light within the human eye, which obscures surrounding objects.

This is considered to be because of what is called photo-oxidative damage; the light interacts with the retina to produce reactive molecules and pose damage to surrounding molecules.

Thanks to Phlizon dimmable led grow lights with switches, you can significantly reduce the intense effects by altering the light intensity according to your needs.

     C. Long-Term Exposure

Generally, full-spectrum LED lights aren’t that harmful to be true; in fact, the close proximity and the length of time spent looking at them cause the main trouble.

As per the American Medical Association, life-long exposure of the retina and lens to blue rays from LEDs can increase the risk chances of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

Studies also reveal that long exposure time to blue light causes a worsening of visual fatigue and nearsightedness. Even if there's high exposure for even a short period of time, light emitted by LEDs can cause adverse retinal changes.

These researchers established safety awareness and a precautionary approach concerning the use of blue-rich “white” LEDs for general lighting.

Luckily, our full-spectrum LED grow lights have a peak linear spectrum based on a continuous spectrum, significantly protecting human eyesight. It pays more attention to health while maintaining the colour rendering of the light source by hiding harmful rays, such as blue light, ultimately giving you a healthy light source.

Mitigating Risks and Eye Safety

   A. Current Safety Standards aƒnd Regulations

The safety standard requires that full-spectrum LED luminaires should have their output tested and documented from 200-3000 nm by a certified laboratory to guarantee that ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) light output doesn’t exceed safety output thresholds defined by a certain luminosity at a given distance.

Normally, LED exposures are regulated by the lamp standard (IEC/EN 62471, Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems). Based on these exposure limits, four risk groups (RGs), RG0, RG1, RG2, and RG3 are defined.

If an LED is marked as RG0 (also called "exempt"), this means no risk is linked with exposure to it. Actually, the risk from exposure to LEDs is above RG0, which increases gradually to RG3. The focus of a safety examination is RG3, which is high-risk. Typically, the manufacturer labels LED light sources according to their risk group.

Know that most visible LEDs and infrared LEDs (IREDs) pose no acute hazard to the eye. However, some speciality lighting sources (e.g., stage lights) can potentially categorised into a higher risk group, as defined by lighting safety standards.

   B. Protective Measures

Due to better efficiency and lower operating costs, LEDs have undoubtedly benefited from exponential performance improvements during the past 20 years compared to incandescent and gas-discharge lamps. Yet, they often become quite hazardous without protective care.

Some people still choose to go into these harshly lit areas without adequate protection, which depicts the ultimate need to convince the user about how critical it is to maintain proper eye coverage.

The note below explains the practices of LED components and their photobiological safety.

Advancements and Future Perspectives

As per the industry statistics, there’s a continuous improvement happening in full-spectrum technology,  as evident by users' rising demand and increasing share value. The entire LED industry, especially the indoor lighting field, is also rapidly changing from conventional Transition from high-color-rendering LEDs to full-spectrum LEDs.

It is reported that while companies and scientific research institutions have joined hands to develop full-spectrum lamps, they have also developed a full-spectrum lighting system that can simulate changes in the color temperature of sunlight throughout the year and at different time periods in the morning and evening, which is more in line with the natural growth law of organisms.

Innovations like smart light bulbs connected to mobile devices through Bluetooth are another major milestone in the field. These smart lights controlled by mobile apps can perform a variety of tasks depending on the bulb, including: turning on/off, choosing color and brightness, scheduling lights to turn on/off or dim, or even flashing when you get a social media notification.

Also, manufacturers are working to achieve a warm light by finding the right color temperature and Color Rendering Index balance.

Moreover, the focus towards compact LED fixtures such as Chip-scale package (CSP) LEDs eliminates the need for the casing that encapsulates an LED chip and phosphor. Also, replacing ceramics—widely used in packages for their thermal management properties—with enhanced polymer materials is making the price point more competitive without detriment to the quality and performance of LEDs.

This creates the same effect, increasing visual comfort and lowering fixture costs.

Conclusion:

LED lights have become such an extensive part of our everyday lives that it’s hard to remember the days of incandescent light bulbs. Full spectrum LED grow lights have emerged as a top choice for many growers due to their energy efficiency, long life, and balanced light range.

If two thoughts are making rounds in your mind about whether you should decorate your home with some LED lights or not, be assured that the risk of severe eye damage is the bare minimum with Phlizon HD series

As long as you take the necessary safety measures to protect your eyes (including limited exposure, reduced screen time and buying 'warm white' lights), it's unlikely that your eyes will be affected by short-term LED exposure.

Establishing good lighting throughout your work, office and home environment are just some of those simple changes that can actually help you to improve your vision and health in the long run.