Researchers find that blue light may not negatively effect sleep

BOSTON - The blue light emitted from your smartphone may not be as harmful to sleep as previously thought.

We know that evening exposure to light can impact your circadian rhythm, your sleep, and your level of alertness. 

Experts have been warning us for years that the blue light emitted from electronic devices is especially bad for a good night's sleep.  

Researchers in Switzerland exposed 16 healthy subjects to three different light scenarios for an hour before bedtime and didn't find that dim blue light was any worse than yellow or white light when it came to melatonin levels, reports of sleepiness, or alertness.  

That does not mean it's a good idea to scroll through Instagram and TikTok right before you hit the hay because any light exposure could have an impact on your sleep.  

But clearly more research is needed to understand the nuances of how light exposure impacts our biological clocks.

In:
• Sleep
• Smartphone

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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