Phones ‘harming sleep’
A BRITISH doctor has called on technology firms to develop an automatic bedtime mode for smartphones to stop them harming sleeping patterns.
The blue light emitted by smartphones, tablets and eReaders is disrupting body clocks, according to experts. It mimics normal daylight and means users, particularly children, are kept awake.
Professor Paul Gringras, of Evelina Children’s Hospital in London, said screens need a setting for the end of the day to filter out the blue light that delays the body clock.
He was part of a study published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health that found there was a trend for devices to emit more such light.
He said: ‘That is great for use in the day, but awful for use at night. There is converging data to say if you are in front of one of these devices at nighttime it could prevent you falling asleep by an extra hour.’