Image Citation:

“LED Lights in Jazz Rooms - Picture of Best Western Plus Krakow Old Town.” Tripadvisor, www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g274772-d276787-i165124074-Best_Western_Plus_Krakow_Old_Town-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_.html

INFORMATION PROVIDED IN VIDEO:

What is the project about?

My project is testing and performing research on how different wavelengths (colors) of LED lights will affect the human body.

What did I do?

My project was quite simple. First, I acquired a source of LED lights and put them in an enclosed room. During the night I opened the LED light and exposed myself to it and noted down the effects felt after the 5-hour exposure. I tested this with 3 different colors which are: Yellow (565-590), Blue (440-485), White (A mix of green, white, and blue lights). Afterward, I searched up the effects of these lights compared it to my results in the evaluation section of the lab report in the instructable.

What is the conclusion?

In conclusion, it seems to be that the warm yellow LED is the only safe light with long exposures. The blue and white light are unsafe for the eyes due to the fact that the short wavelengths suppress the production of the Melatonin hormone. It’s better to avoid the blue and white light since they’re harmful by:

-Not using your phone for long times at once (stop using it at least 2 hours before bedtime)

-To wear protective eyewear against blue light (such as some types of sunglasses)

-Use devices with smaller screens

-Reduce the brightness and to activate night-shift mode on electronic devices

-Implant warm (yellow) colored lights in your living space (home and work)

Why is this a great idea?

This is a great idea since smartphones emit blue lights, where:

-An average individual checks their phone 47 times a day

-80% use their phone before sleeping

-85% of people use their phone whilst talking to their friends and family

-The average person uses their phone for almost 3 hours a day (171 minutes)

-2/3 of teachers see their students distracted with their phones

-40% of people use their phones on the toilet

These are indications of addiction, which means there are long exposures of blue lights. I’m comparing blue lights with warm (yellow) lights to compare the effects and show why we should limit our exposures with advice.

What did I learn in this process

-Part of the “white” light falls on the blue light spectrum (White: 400 – 700 nanometer, while blue is 440-500 including cyan). This means some of the blue light effects can be present during white light exposure.

-The reason that blue light affects the circadian rhythm is that the short wavelengths suppress the production of the sleep hormone Melatonin

-Blue light is also beneficial since it is the reason it wakes us up (from the sun), it boosts your attention and mood, and it is used to regulate the circadian rhythm (prolonged exposure disturbs this regulation)

-White light is considered the most harmful light (I thought it was blue, and keep in mind that I didn’t know blue was part of white).

What is my plan for the future for further study?

I don’t have a clear plan, but there are points that I need to keep in mind. First, I’ll look for damage other than in the eye. I’ll do this experiment with multiple people with multiple sources of LED lights in different occasions. On top of that, I’ll do it in different rooms to notice if there’s a change in the results. I might increase the duration of exposure from 5 hours but that is still not clear yet.

Step 1: The Problem

How do different colors of light (LED) affect the human body, and why?

I chose this problem since you are probably exposed to LED lights no matter what you're doing such as if you're on your phone, laptop, in the house (room lights). Some people use the correct lighting while others are putting themselves at risk, and it's my job to understand the effect of these lights in order to minimize the risks of doing permanent damage.

Step 2: Background Information

Image Citation:

Harvard Health Publishing. “Blue Light Has a Dark Side.” Harvard Health, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side.

LED lights might cause headaches with long exposures
They are strong which means it could do permanent damage to your eyes
They save a lot of power, which means you can find it everywhere (people would buy it because it’s cost-efficient)
They don’t emit UV rays unlike incandescent or fluorescent lights, but it has other disadvantages
Different colors could affect cells since it affects the growth of plants (increased growth which means too much of it could be harmful) (4)
Some colors of the LED light could cause some problems, such as blue pollution
They could have high wavelengths which would permanently damage your retina and cornea (4)
There are much more that will be discussed in results alongside with the conclusion

All of this is a mix of

Link 1,2,3

Step 3: The Hypothesis

Images Citation:

“Can Light Sensitivity Lead to Blurry Vision?” TheraSpecs, www.theraspecs.com/blog/light-sensitivity-and-blurry-vision/.

I believe that colored LED lights harm the human body more than natural colored ones, especially the ones that are artificial since they would be too strong on the eye and give out harmful rays. I.E the artificial blue light that you can find in almost every electronic device (including smart phones). My guess is that the blue light will make me feel the most uncomfortable, then white comes afterward (since it seems too bright to me), and then the yellow light will be perfect for me since it has a hue like the sun and it feels more natural than the previous 2 colors.

Step 4: Variables

CONTROLLED

LED light: I will use the same LED light to minimize the factors that can affect this experiment. This LED light will be used for the artificial colors while the normal room lights are going to be used for the yellow lights.

Human Body: I will be using myself to test this experiment, I will stay exposed to the LED light in a room with no external light source to minimize the factors available.

Duration of exposure: I will expose myself to the light for 5 hours, to increase the chance of gaining the symptoms of long exposures. I will back up my results with tested information provided by scientists and I will compare the results to get a more accurate idea of what the LED light could do to you.

INDEPENDENT

Color of LED: I will use the 3 most common colors: White, Yellow, and Blue. As I've mentioned previously, I will do deep research to get a detailed view on what different colors of LED lights do to you on the outside (visible), and on the inside (invisible). This will be supporting evidence for the conclusion and results where I will be expressing the reasoning as to why I chose which light is more useful (supported with evidence).

DEPENDENT

Effect on the human body: Based on the effects I felt and the ones mentioned by scientists, I will make a conclusion on which light is better to why while mentioning the symptoms of others to give a general idea to the audience about how different colors could affect us as people.

Step 5: Materials

LED light: This is the base of the whole project, and it is in every variable, procedure which makes it the most valuable material used
Person (me): This is how I would measure the project and determine the dependent variable. I would need my own experience alongside with other people's trials (which includes scientists) so I can compare and contrast the results which will give me a more accurate conclusion and evaluation
Laptop: This is to research the effects and to note down what I felt
Enclosed Dark Room: This is the setting of the experiment

NOTE: The lack of material is due to the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic

Step 6: Procedure

Images Citation:

AnnaKoneva. “Procedure PNG Images: Vector and PSD Files: Free Download on Pngtree.” Pngtree, pngtree.com/so/procedure.

Go to a dark room at night
Open the normal LED lights and stay exposed for hours doing your everyday work
Note down the effects on the laptop after several hours then search up the effects online
Turn the lights into Yellow lights (at night)
Get exposed for hours then note down the effects you felt
Search the effects online Turn the lights into Blue lights (at night) then repeat once again
Conclude the experiment and include some suggestions to what light is the safest to be exposed to

Step 7: Data

After noting down all the effects and putting it in a simple manner, I wrote the most common effects which include Eye Strains, Headaches, Unrest (in other words, lack of sleep), relaxation, and calmness. The chart shows the level of the effects from a scale of 1-10, where 1 is the lowest and 10 is the highest. I.e if I put 7 relaxation that means 70% of the time I'm relaxed while if I say 6 headaches, that means 60% of the time I have a headache, etc. As you can observe, the yellow light was the best for me. Most of the time I felt relaxed and calm while just a bit of the time I felt disturbed and not so great, the white light came in second afterward. It seemed great at first but I realized that it was too bright (compared to yellow) which gave me strains in my eyes, and at some points, I felt small headaches. It didn't really affect my circadian rhythm as I've expected it to do so (due to it being bright), which made it relaxing when I ignored the brightness. Finally, the blue light was not for me. It had an off-tone compared to white and yellow which gave me severe headaches. It wasn't too bright which limited the strain on my eyes (but still it was present). Due to the severe headache and some other factors, I felt my circadian rhythm disturbed where I felt tired but I wasn't able to sleep. When I got used to it in the final hour I felt more relaxed and calm which was a great sensation, which is the reason why I gave it high headache and high relaxation.

Step 8: Patterns

Image Citation:

“Education Background With Laboratory Vector Vector Art & Graphics.” FreeVector.com, www.freevector.com/education-background-with-laboratory-vector-28115.

At the beginning of the exposure, I didn't feel any effects from any of the lights. It seems like it needs a while to actually start to feel the effects
Around 3 hours into the exposure, I started to feel the effects sink from every light color. In the beginning, the effects were mild (as soon as I started feeling it), then afterward it started to become more severe until I got used to it
Around the end of the exposure (4.5 - 5) hours in, the effects felt milder since I got used to it, but it was noticeable anyways.
In each of the tests, I felt at least some headaches, strains in the eye, unrest, while when I got used to it, I felt more calm and relaxed (all of them have similar effects on the outside, with different severities).
The more the artificial the color is, the more pain I experience (such as how blue was the worse color)

Step 9: Evaluation

Image Citation:

Hofmann, Jennifer. “Aligning Learning Outcomes with Business Outcomes: Curated Resources for Your PLN.” Getting InSync, blog.insynctraining.com/aligning-learning-outcomes-with-business-outcomes-curated-resources-for-your-pln.

Hypothesis:

In the end, it turns out that my hypothesis was kind of correct (you will understand why in the conclusion paragraph). I felt relaxed being exposed to the yellow color, but I didn't think that I would feel a bit of a headache. In the end, it was very mild which didn't do much of a difference to me, afterward, the white light was too bright for me, in the end, it wasn't as bad as I've thought. I thought I would be squinting the whole time, but it seems like the only problem with it was eye strains, otherwise, it is perfectly fine to me. Finally, the blue color felt unique and nice at first, which is why I increased the level of relaxation. After being exposed I realized that it started to give me a headache, and I started to feel tired after the exposure, but I wasn't able to fall asleep.

Patterns:

Due to the fact that I didn't have much time to do this experiment, the results aren't as accurate as it should be. This will affect the patterns noticed since I haven't tested this experiment multiple times which means the patterns could be present but are unclear. In order to maximize the patterns, I would've needed to test this experiment multiple times with multiple people and multiple sources of LED lights in different occasions.

In General:

I would say I could improve my materials by using different companies that provide LED lights. Regarding the process, I could increase the duration of the exposure and make myself exposed multiple times. Finally, I could've added another person to test this which would've made the experiment more accurate. Other than that the experiment is just fine and it is accurate enough to base the results on it.

Comparing Results: THIS IS DUE TO NOT HAVING THE RESOURCES REQUIRED BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. I COMPARED RESULTS IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A MORE ACCURATE CONCLUSION

According to multiple sources, the blue light hue directly affects your body's production of the hormone melatonin, which is the hormone responsible for sleep. Melatonin specifically is responsible for making you feel sleepy, while the artificial blue light suppresses the production of Melatonin. This is the reason why sunlight wakes you up naturally in the morning (since it has light in the blue wavelength), and it's the reason we feel sleepy in darker environments. The blue light affects the circadian rhythm which could make you feel difficulty falling asleep, or have difficulty staying asleep. Other than disturbing sleep, blue light can give us eye strain due to the fact we receive a lot of exposure to it via our digital devices (which includes phones, laptops, tablets) which can lead to physical discomfort. In addition to that, it can go further from eye irritation and it can lead to serious vision-related problems. Prolonged exposure to it can cause cell damage in the retina and it makes us more susceptible to macular degeneration, which is a problem that can lead to a permanent loss of vision (which was one of the reasons that I need to use glasses). [5, 7]

Bright white lights emit the most UV radiation and cause the most damage to someone's eyes (an effect that you can't determine without testing which is why my hypothesis was not fully correct). Most damages to the eyes are caused by this light, but according to the American Optometric Association, exposure of blue light can also cause this type of damage. Many sources recommend replacing white lights with warmer colored LED lights, such as the yellow lights since white light bulbs emit shorter wavelengths, which will suppress the production of Melatonin (less than blue though) 5 times more than the orange-yellow colored light. It turns out that artificial white light lies on the blue light spectrum (from 440 - 500 nanometers) [6, 7]

Advice (Conclusion):

Finally, after noting down the results, analyzing it, and comparing it to scientific measures, we can conclude that the orange-yellow light is the most beneficial light. First, it doesn't suppress the production of Melatonin, they are energy efficient, and they are natural unlike the blue and the "white" light. It's recommended to avoid the blue and white light since they're harmful, as stated in the paragraphs previously. If there's a case that you need to be exposed to these harmful lights, you should:

Put your digital devices away at least 2 hours before bedtime: the devices emit blue lights which will affect the circadian rhythm. Keeping the light away will make the Melatonin produce and become normal which will get you rested. Being well-rested helps the body protect itself from harm, and being unrested will make the body exposed to health problems.
Adjust your screen brightness and keep on warm-colored lights (which could be known as night-shift mode): By lowering your screen's brightness, you are playing a significant role at limiting the exposure of the blue lights and it won't disturb the Melatonin as much. While turning on the night-shit mode will make the wavelengths produced by the screen longer which won't suppress the Melatonin as much as it used to when it was at shorter wavelengths
Use devices with small screens: The exposure of blue light could depend on the size of the screen, so having a small surface area would result in less exposure to the harmful light
Chance your living areas with warmer lights: Instead of having them "white", you can make them yellow-orange colored which will reduce the duration of being exposed to the blue light spectrum. The lights will be sleep-friendly. If you would prefer white lights, then you can purchase smart lights, these lights will turn warm at night to make it sleep-friendly and user friendly at the same time
Invest in protective eyewear: You can protect yourself by buying glasses that block out the blue lights, it's advised to use an anti-reflective coating on the lens since they block extra blue light exposure.

Blue light is still important in regulating the circadian rhythm (as I've stated previously, it is the reason that you wake up due to sunlight. Sunlight provides blue light that wakes you up in the morning. Without it, we won't be able to know when to wake up. You still need it to suppress Melatonin (a few of it) but not making it zero (by prolonged exposures)), it's necessary for eye health (the natural blue lights that come from sunlight rather than artificial ones), and it can provide mental boost by boosting your alertness which will improve your mood and memory. Blue light is still useful but you need to regulate the duration of exposure. Too little is harmful and too much is harmful (you need just the perfect amount which is hard to acquire without following the advice listed). [5, 6]