Visible light damage occurs from sunlight but not smartphones

Visible light can damage the skin, but sun radiation emits far more blue light than digital screens in contact with the skin, according to a speaker who reviewed research at Maui Derm for Dermatologists.

“The most relevant and ubiquitous light source that we’re exposed to is sunlight — comparing these two sources, one [device screens] in contact with our skin and the other one is 91.1 million miles away,” Curtis Cole, PhD, said during the presentation. “And you can see that even then, the sun has approximately 180 times higher amounts of blue light than our cell phone does in contact with the skin.”

Previous studies indicated that visible light creates reactive oxygen species and matrix-degrading enzymes, according to Cole.

“This is likely the primary source of subsequent tissue damage occurring from the visible part of that spectrum,” Cole said. “While we walk and play outdoors in the sun, we’re confronted not only with these potential damages from visible light, but also from the more well-studied damages of ultraviolet radiation.”

Conventional methods of protection from ultraviolet light, including “sun avoidance, seeking shade, protective clothing and hats, and using sunscreens and preferably sunscreens containing iron oxides,” also work to protect the skin from light in the visible spectrum.

However, Cole said developing new sunscreens will require balancing “a conjunction of circumstances,” including California Proposition 65 and FDA regulations.