With the continuous advancement of technology in upgrading and improving garden lighting systems, indoor growers often choose LED Grow Lights to enhance crop yield in a shorter period.
However, it is beneficial for the development of plants but poses unrecognizable risks to eye health in the long run. If you are querying that “Do you need glasses for LED grow lights?”
Please refer to the following article about the effect of LED grow lights on users’ eyes, then you might find your answer.
About hues of LED grow lights
Most indoor plant lights on the market are manufactured with specific wavelengths targeted at different stages of plant growth. Red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) trigger the production of seeds, roots, flowers, and fruits.
And blue LEDs make stems and roots strong. Both play a strong role in photosynthesis.
On the other hand, plants also need yellow light, like the one created by a high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamp, to absorb light or consume most of the nutrients during development.
Although many growers using HPS and other light source combinations are quite successful, the new LED frow lights are becoming more popular, which is an option to save energy and increase crop yields.
About Full-spectrum LED and UV light
Why should growers consider using full-spectrum LEDs? LEDs that make full use of the light spectrum can effectively reproduce natural sunlight more closely than other artificial light sources.
When the entire spectrum of light is available to plants, they can distinguish between each targeted light spectrum that we see as colors, for higher absorption and cell activation. The full-spectrum includes visible and invisible rays to the human eye, which often appear white when active at the same time.
Although the white light is similar to the sunlight, it is easy to see the normal color with the naked eye (as opposed to the pink or purple light of the LED, the yellow of the HPS light) but the risk for skin and eye damage is the highest because of the existence of invisible UV rays emitted by these lights.
Any artificial light that is used to grow indoor plants emits a certain amount of UV-A and UV-B radiation because these rays are contributing factors to photosynthesis as in the sunlight.
Almost anyone who has ever wear sunscreen is familiar with UV-A and UV-B rays, the most common types of UV radiation emitted from the sun. The third type of UV radiation is UV-C, which is also present in natural light but is almost 100% absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere.
Artificial light, especially full-spectrum LED, not only has UV-A and UV-B radiation, which is highly capable of radiation but also has UV-C radiation, posing the most serious risk to eyes and skin.
The UV light of LED grow lights might cause cataract
According to many studies, the contact of eyes with UV light is associated with cataract formation and retinal degeneration. In both cases, it has been hypothesized that ultraviolet light may begin to form free radicals, which can cause protein changes and lipid peroxidation.
In short, UV radiation emitted from full-spectrum LED lights may pose a greater risk to eye health than other types of artificial light. So, indoor growers should always protect the eyes from these harmful rays of LED.
How to overcome the bad conditions caused by harmful rays of LED grow lights
Indoor LED grows lights are always an effective option, generating less heat and taking up less space than other lights. Despite the higher initial investment costs, they tend to last longer and have a lower environmental impact than HPS or CMH lamps.
Regardless of the type of LEDs you choose, advanced technology equipment can pose a risk. Knowing these risks can help you make an informed decision about how to protect your eyes under LED conditions or do you need glasses for LED to grow lights? The answer is definitely YES.
When entering the planting garden and need to contact with the harmful rays of LEDs, growers should use glasses made of PC plastic and polycarbonate lenses with good impact resistance, for protecting eyes from getting hurt.
You should choose glasses that can balance colors and provide clear vision so you can accurately assess the status of your plants.
Many products that protect the eyes from ultraviolet light and HEV light may be an economical solution but do not provide enough visual clarity to help eyes against the fatigue.
With the shared information, hopefully, you can get more knowledge about the harmful rays of LED to the eyes to answer the question “Do you need glasses for LED grow lights?” and know how to keep your plants and eyes healthy.
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