Study: Average Worker Spends 1,700 Hours In Front Of Computer Screen

LONDON, U.K. (CBS Local) - A new study has found that the average worker is spending over two months of every year in front of a computer screen. The findings have eye care professionals sounding the alarm about the dangers to millions of people who may be damaging their vision.

"Computers are a relatively new concept – for millions now, staring at a screen all day is the norm," Acuvue spokesperson Katie McGeechan said, via Study Finds. "However if you look back just a few decades, far fewer of us would have spent the day looking into the same glowing rectangle, and when you add mobile phones into the mix, we're putting our eyes through a lot every day."

Contact lenses manufacturer Acuvue sponsored the study, which found that the average office employee is spending 1,700 hours a year in front of the computer. Over 2,000 office workers were polled and researchers discovered that around 6.5 hours of every work day is spent gazing into the large glowing screens.

All that screen time has left many of the respondents suffering from headaches and weaker vision. Thirty-seven percent of the workers complained of regular headaches after long stints in front of the screen.

Doctors warn that the problem of blue light emitted from computers, phones, and tablets is also a growing danger to children as well. "Phones, tablets are a big source of that wavelength – 430-440 nanonmeters, that is very damaging to the eyes," Dr. Michael Cross told CBS Pittsburgh. "Shorter wavelength, but higher in energy. It penetrates through the lens, the cornea to get to the back of the eye, to the retina."

Physicians say the damage could lead to macular degeneration, which is a serious condition that can cause blindness.