Eyecare providers criticized for blue light claims

Article

Optical services chains in the United Kingdom are misleading customers about filters to screen out blue light from electronic devices, according to the BBC. Boots Opticians and Vision Express both claim that the filters protect against retinal damage despite a lack of evidence, the news service said in a recent press release.

Optical services chains in the United Kingdom are misleading customers about filters to screen out blue light from electronic devices, according to the BBC.

Boots Opticians and Vision Express both claim that the filters protect against retinal damage despite a lack of evidence, the news service said in a recent press release.

The BBC sent members of its investigative team, One Watchdog, to pose as customers shopping for spectacles in 5 branches of each of the chains.

“Undercover video footage shows dispensing opticians making unproven health claims about the effects of blue light including eye strain, fatigue, headaches and drowsiness,” the BBC said in a press release.

The team counted six health claims reported across these ten stores that experts have told the programme are not backed up with evidence.

“In some branches of Boots, dispensing opticians can be seen providing frightening advice about blue light from electronic devices, claiming that it can cause serious harm to our eyes,” the BBC reports.

“In fact, one Boots branch made a severe claim stating that the ‘dangerous’ blue violet light kills the retinal cells at the back of your eyes,” the press release says.

According to the BBC, Boots offered to sell its Protect Plus Blue lenses for an extra £70 and Vision Express offered a similar product for an extra £50.

Upheld complaints

 

Last year, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld complaints about the marketing of such filters by Boots.

The ASA cited a national press ad, seen on 24 January 2015, that stated “Many modern gadgets, whether it’s a fancy LED TV or your smartphone, as well as sunlight and energy-saving light bulbs, give off a certain kind of blue light that can cause your retinal cells to deteriorate over time.”

In the ad, Boots promised to "help you protect your eyes from harmful blue light, reducing damage to retinal cells” with a £70 “special finish that filters out the harmful blue light and eases eye strain and fatigue.”

The ASA noted that exposure to blue light emitted from electronic devices is significantly less than exposure to blue light in sunshine.

Boots submitted an epidemiological study suggesting that sunlight might be a risk factor for the early onset of age-related macular degeneration, the agency noted. But this fell short of the ASA standard of evidence, which requires a “full trial” with human subjects showing damage from blue light from electronic devices.

“Therefore, because the evidence was not sufficient to establish a direct link between harmful blue light and retinal damage over time, we concluded that the claims were misleading and had not been substantiated,” the agency concluded.

“We told Boots Opticians Ltd not to make claims that blue light caused retinal damage or that their Protect Plus Lenses filtered out a meaningful amount of harmful blue light in the absence of adequate substantiation.”

The BBC also cited an interview with John B. O'Hagan, of the Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England in Chilton, UK.

O’Hagan told the news service that blue light from electronic devices “was less than 1% of the safe level which isn’t remotely dangerous.”

Study assessed blue light emission

 

In a study published in the journal Eye (2016 Feb;30(2):230-3), O’Hagan and his colleagues assessed blue light emission from electronic devices including light bulbs, computers and tablets. “None of the sources assessed approached the exposure limits, even for extended viewing times,” they concluded.

But the optical chains defended their marketing of the filters. “There is a growing body of clinical evidence to support our position that exposure to some wavelengths of blue light may, over the long term, be harmful to the eye and these impacts are only just beginning to be understood,” Boots said, in a statement provided by the BBC.

“Our Protect Plus Blue Lenses reduce exposure to harmful blue light by up to 20% and should be considered, together with the effects of diet, smoking and family history on future eye health. The promotional materials relating to these lenses were approved by Trading Standards.”

Boots added that “where we may not have given the correct advice, we will work with our teams so they can explain the benefits of Protect Plus Blue lenses more clearly.”

Vision Express took a slightly different tack. “We have never claimed that blue light causes retinal damage and have, therefore, never claimed that our lenses prevent retinal damage,” the company said in its own statement. “Our recommendation of blue filter lenses is based on their ability to improve contrast for better visual performance and comfort, with a filter which can help reduce eye strain.” 

Newsletter

Join ophthalmologists across Europe—sign up for exclusive updates and innovations in surgical techniques and clinical care.

Recent Videos
Christine Curcio, PhD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, shares histology update and revised nomenclature for OCT with Sheryl Stevenson of the Eye Care Network and Ophthalmology Times
SriniVas R. Sadda, MD, FARVO, shares key points from his retina presentation at the International SPECTRALIS Symposium
Robert Sergott, MD, describes fluorescence lifetime imaging ophthalmoscopy (FLIO) and the International SPECTRALIS Symposium – And Beyond (ISS) in Heidelberg, Germany.
Rayaz Malik, MBChB, PhD, a professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, spoke with Ophthalmology Times Europe about his presentation. It's titled "An eye on neurodegenerative diseases: Challenging the dogma" at the International SPECTRALIS Sympsoium. In conversation with Hattie Hayes, Ophthalmology Times Europe
Anat Loewenstein, MD, describes her presentation on remote imaging for age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy at the International SPECTRALIS Symposium, in conversation with Hattie Hayes of Ophthalmology Times Europe
Tyson Brunstetter, OD, PhD, a US Navy Aerospace Optometrist at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, shares key takeaways from his keynote at the International SPECTRALIS Symposium (ISS)
Rayaz Malik, MBChB, PhD, shares his presentation, titled An eye on neurodegenerative diseases: Challenging the dogma, at this year's International SPECTRALIS Symposium
At the Retina World Congress, Siegfried Priglinger, MD, speaks about ensuring the best outcomes for preschool-aged patients
At the 2025 ASCRS meeting, Robert Ang, MD said small aperture IOLs can benefit all patients, especially those with complex corneas or who have undergone previous corneal refractive surgery
Viha Vig, MBChB graduate student at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, discusses her poster presentation on the relationship between mitochondiral disease, Alzheimer disease, and other types of dementia.
© 2025 MJH Life Sciences

All rights reserved.