Combatant Eye Protection: An Introduction to the Blue Light Hazard

Combat spectacles have successfully provided protection from penetrating ocular injury for over 5 years; the primary obstacle to their successful performance had been getting Soldiers to actually wear the protective gear. As success stories emerged (via photographic evidence), compliance rates approached 100 . The risk of functional eye injury resulting from visible solar radiation has been less obvious. Moreover, the risk of functional ocular tissue injury from LED-generated radiant energy remains under scrutiny. All LEDs (i.e., those embedded within digital tactical display systems, flat panel instrument displays, computer monitors, and televisions) can possess major energy outputs across the blue spectrum, independent of their apparent white or observational color. This report is based on current data-extrapolation from prior work that had quantified alterations in rabbit corneal metabolic activity secondary to in-vivo UV exposures.