An undercover BBC One Watchdog investigation has revealed that staff at Boots Opticians and Vision Express practices made false claims over the risks surrounding blue light. Watchdog reporters posed as patients shopping for glasses in five Boots and five Vision Express branches across the country. There were six reported health claims reported across the ten stores, which a panel of experts told the programme were not backed up with evidence.
The programme comes just one year after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Boots exaggerated both the threat from blue light and the effectiveness of its lenses.
Advice provided in some branches of Boots Optician was described as ‘frightening’ and one member of staff said the ‘dangerous’ blue light killed retinal cells in the back of the eye. Both multiples offered patients lens coatings claimed to filter blue light.
Presenter Sophie Raworth discussed the health claims with Professor of Ophthalmology, Chris Hammond, who told the programme that there was no supporting evidence. Raworth also met with light expert Dr John O'Hagan, the author of a report for Public Health England to establish whether blue light from electronic devices was dangerous.
Dr O'Hagan said blue light formed a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum but was only dangerous if exposed to a far greater amount than what we would already get in daily life. He demonstrated this by measuring the intensity of blue light emitted from a smartphone and several other electronic devices, with results showing the amount released was less than 1% of the safe level, itself not dangerous.
‘It is highly worrying to see some dispensing opticians continue to make these unproven health claims in store and I want to make all consumers aware,’ said Raworth.
‘The undercover investigation demonstrates how members of the public could be completely misled and left with the impression that screens are harmful. These high street opticians cannot provide sufficient proof of blue light being in any way dangerous to our health.’
Responding to the show’s claims, a spokesperson for Boots Opticians said: ‘As a health-led optician, our priority is to help people understand their eye health and to make sure our customers get the best possible care for their eyes, and that includes the use of the latest technology. We welcome the feedback on the visits that you made to some of our practices, and where we may not have given the correct advice, we will work with our teams so they can explain the benefits of Protect Plus Blue lenses more clearly.
‘There is a growing body of clinical evidence to support our position that exposure to some wavelengths of blue light may, over the long term, be harmful to the eye and these impacts are only just beginning to be understood. Our Protect Plus Blue lenses reduce exposure to harmful blue light by up to 20% and should be considered, together with the effects of diet, smoking and family history on future eye health.
‘The promotional materials relating to these lenses were approved by Trading Standards.’
Vision Express rejected the programme’s findings: ‘We have never claimed that blue light causes retinal damage and have, therefore, never claimed that our lenses prevent retinal damage. Our recommendation of blue filter lenses is based on their ability to improve contrast for better visual performance and comfort, with a filter which can help reduce eye strain.
‘We take the concerns you have raised very seriously, we take vision very seriously and want our customers to take their eye health seriously. Our key concern is that people should have regular eye exams, from which our highly trained teams can provide recommendations on product and solutions that are best suited to a customer’s individual needs,’ said a spokesperson for the multiple.
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