For anyone who cares about their so-called "sleep hygiene" — essentially good, deep, restful sleep — it has become conventional wisdom that blue light will wreck it. Blue light is often the wavelength of light produced by electronic devices like televisions, smart phones and computers. You know, the obsidian slabs we stare into at all hours of the day, even long after the sun has set. But is blue light actually bad for you?
In 2021 the journal BMC Public Health published a comprehensive review of the existing scientific research on blue light and sleep, concluding that there was at least some link between electronics use and shortened sleep spans for children between the ages of six and fifteen. That same study determined that 13-to-15-year-olds struggle with insomnia and unsatisfying sleep when they are exposed to social media and screen time before sleeping. A 2018 study from the Journal of American College Health also linked late-night texting in college students with a plethora of sleep-related problems.
