Office Light

Hype vs Reality

Have you been bombarded with the “blue light” scare?

Light is quite fascinating and complex. As demonstrated in the illustration below, everything that generates heat, glows. Yes, humans glow but not in the normally visible spectrum. Also note where the peaks of radiation are. An old incandescent bulb is an inefficient light source because most of it’s energy is infrared and not in the visible spectrum.

The sun’s light actually peaks in blue light. Yes, the sun gives off the most radiation in the blue spectrum. Of course this shifts through the day as the angle of the sun changes. In the early morning and near sunset more of the sun’s light will be in the red spectrum.

Out of curiosity, I decided to measure the light where I sit all day long working (my home office). Popular narrative would give the impression that I’m bathed in blue light from my monitors and LED lights. It turns out the peak is actually just about red light at 607 nm. See the image below.

Since I’ve become enamored with the benefits of red light therapy, I have a red light lamp behind my monitor to give off some extra red light when I’m working. Here is how the composition of my light changes when I turn it on:

Yes, more red light and near infrared light, exactly what you’d expect that lamp to add.