Chris Bennett: Some blue light thinking

Why is it that the public has such a blind spot, literally, when it comes to the health of their eyes. And who is going to put them straight?

The latest research from the Vision Council of America (news) highlights the lack of awareness about the damaging light emitted by digital devices.  This coincides with further research highlighting the need to inform patients about the danger to the eyes of smoking (news).

It's quite depressing to find that 80 per cent of the smoking public either don't know, or don't care about the danger of smoking  to the eyes given the profile the issue has had over many years.  It's perhaps understandable that the dangers of blue light are less well known but it's fair to assume that if the levels of knowledge are low in the US they are similar, or even lower, in the UK. While the VCA points out that many blue light blocking products have been developed to ease the blue light issue among a population glued to their digital devices the question of who educates the public is left hanging.