歐洲衛(wèi)生當(dāng)局警告說，LED燈會損害眼睛，擾亂睡眠

歐洲衛(wèi)生當(dāng)局警告說，LED燈會損害眼睛，擾亂睡眠

The blue light in LED lighting that is increasingly used in our homes can damage the eye's retina while disturbing our biological and sleep rhythms, a French health authority warned in a new report.

法國衛(wèi)生當(dāng)局在一份新報告中警告說，我們的家庭中越來越多地使用的LED燈，其中的藍光會損害眼睛的視網(wǎng)膜，同時擾亂我們的生物和睡眠節(jié)律。

New scientific evidence confirms the "phototoxic effects" of short-term exposures to high-intensity blue light, as well as an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration after chronic exposure to lower-intensity sources, according to the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety, known as ANSES.

據(jù)法國食品、環(huán)境和職業(yè)健康與安全署(ANSES)稱，新的科學(xué)證據(jù)證實了短期暴露在高強度藍光下的“光毒性效應(yīng)”，以及長期暴露在低強度藍光下會增加老年性黃斑變性的風(fēng)險。

Age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss among people over 50. causes damage to the macula, a small spot near the center of the retina.

老年性黃斑變性是導(dǎo)致50歲以上人群視力下降的主要原因，它會對黃斑造成損害。黃斑是視網(wǎng)膜中心附近的一個小點。

Blue light itself is not new. Sunlight produces rays of blue that have higher energy than other wavelengths in the light spectrum. And old-fashioned lightbulbs produced some blue light, though less than what is emitted by energy-efficient curlicue (fluorescent) lightbulbs or LEDs.

藍光本身并不新鮮。陽光產(chǎn)生的藍色射線比光譜中其他波長的能量更高。老式燈泡發(fā)出一些藍光，盡管比節(jié)能的熒光燈或LED燈發(fā)出的藍光少。

LEDs are "undergoing rapid technological and economic development as a new source of lighting. For many years, they were only used in electronics but are now found as integral parts of lighting systems," ANSES wrote in a 2016 report. Today, LEDs are used for domestic purposes as well as industrial and commercial ones.

LED燈作為一種新的照明光源，正經(jīng)歷著技術(shù)和經(jīng)濟的快速發(fā)展。多年來，它們只用于電子產(chǎn)品，但現(xiàn)在已成為照明系統(tǒng)不可或缺的一部分，”ANSES在2016年的一份報告中寫道。今天，LED燈不僅用于工業(yè)和商業(yè)，也用于家庭。

In the United States, LED products have been seeing increased adoption, a positive development in terms of energy consumption because they use significantly less electricity per lumen than many traditional lighting technologies, according to the US Department of Energy. Market penetration of LED lighting is increasing, the agency estimates.

據(jù)美國能源部稱，在美國，LED產(chǎn)品的使用率不斷提高，這在能源消耗方面是一個積極的發(fā)展，因為與許多傳統(tǒng)照明技術(shù)相比，LED產(chǎn)品每流明的用電量大大減少。該機構(gòu)估計，LED照明的市場滲透率正在增加。

Additional scientific evidence

更多的科學(xué)證據(jù)

An American study also described the use of blue light as "increasingly prominent" in today's world. Lead author Gianluca Tosini, professor and chief scientific research officer at Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine, said blue light can indeed damage the eyes, but only if the wavelengths are below 455 nanometers and the intensity is quite high.

美國的一項研究也將藍光在當(dāng)今世界的使用描述為“日益突出”。該研究的第一作者、亞特蘭大莫爾豪斯醫(yī)學(xué)院的教授兼首席科學(xué)研究官吉安盧卡·托西尼說，藍光確實會損害眼睛，但前提是藍光的波長低于455納米，而且藍光的強度相當(dāng)高。

"There are blue light photoreceptors in the retina that directly communicate with the brain circadian clock," Tosini, who was not involved in the ANSES report, wrote in an email. "It is true that exposure to light in the evening affect sleep and circadian rhythms mostly by inhibiting the synthesis of the sleep promoting hormone melatonin."

托西尼在一封電子郵件中寫道:“視網(wǎng)膜上有藍光感光器，它們直接與大腦的晝夜節(jié)律鐘聯(lián)系。”托西尼沒有參與ANSES的報告。“的確，晚上暴露在光線下，主要是通過抑制促進睡眠的褪黑激素的合成，來影響睡眠和晝夜節(jié)律。”

Yet he also said that a few studies have shown that "exposure to blue light in the middle of the day may have beneficial effects" in that it increases alertness.

不過，他也表示，一些研究已經(jīng)表明，“在中午暴露在藍光下可能會有有益的影響”，因為它會提高警覺性。

Janet Sparrow, a professor of ophthalmic sciences at Columbia University, wrote in an email that "blue light is thought to help individuals to maintain the daily rhythms that allow sleep."

哥倫比亞大學(xué)眼科科學(xué)教授珍妮特·斯派洛在一封電子郵件中寫道，“人們認為藍光有助于維持允許睡眠的日常節(jié)律。”

The retina "accumulates fluorescent molecules generally referred to as lipofuscin," explained Sparrow, who was not involved in the ANSES report.

視網(wǎng)膜“聚集了通常被稱為脂褐素的熒光分子，” 斯派洛解釋道，他并沒有參與到ANSES的報告中。

"These compounds become more abundant with age and are sensitive to blue light." Early evidence suggests that this light sensitivity may lead to unhealthy optical responses over the long term, she said.

“隨著年齡的增長，這些化合物會變得更加豐富，并且對藍光更加敏感。”她說，早期的證據(jù)表明，這種光敏性可能會導(dǎo)致長期的不健康的光學(xué)反應(yīng)。

Tosini noted that scientists are convinced that exposure to LED blue light in the range of 470 to 480 nanometers for a short to medium period (days to weeks) should not significantly increase the risk of eye disease, but the same is not necessarily true for long-term exposure (months to years).

托西尼指出，科學(xué)家確信，中短期(幾天到幾周)暴露在470納米到480納米范圍內(nèi)的LED藍光下，不會顯著增加患眼疾的風(fēng)險，但長期(數(shù)月到數(shù)年)暴露在LED藍光下，情況未必如此。

"I believe that more studies are needed on this topic that is really affecting the health of many citizens," he said. He added a potential solution to the problem of blue light would be to develop intelligent lighting systems that change the composition of lighting throughout the day.

他說:“我認為需要對這一問題進行更多的研究，因為它確實影響著許多公民的健康。”他補充說，解決藍光問題的一個潛在方案是開發(fā)智能照明系統(tǒng)，改變?nèi)煺彰鞯慕M成。