MNN - Mother Nature Network

Eyes take a lot of abuse at the office. Between staring at a computer screen from the time the workday begins and staring at a tiny Blackberry when running between meetings, it's a wonder any office worker out there isn't staring at the world through Coke-bottle-thick glasses.

Now, office workers have one more vision killer to worry about: overhead lighting. Working all day long under bright fluorescent bulbs may cause permanent damage to your eyesight, according to a recent study from researchers at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Australia.

 

The researchers found that working under the bright fluorescent lights usually used in office buildings, schools, and other commercial spaces for 40 or more hours a week increases the risk of cataracts and another eye disease known as pterygia, in which a non-cancerous tissue grows on the white portion of the eye and may eventually block your vision. The culprit? UV radiation. "Cool" or "bright white" fluorescents — the kind that are often described as resembling daylight and emit a slightly bluish hue — emit UV light equal to or stronger than that from sunlight, and that type of light can, as noted in the study, cause "irreparable damage to the eye."

 

More than half of Americans have cataracts by the time they're 80 years old, while just 17 percent do so at age 40. The condition becomes more common with age, but continuous, lifetime exposure to cool white fluorescent lights could cause cataracts to develop earlier. Study coauthor Helen Walls, PhD, research fellow at the ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, notes that "exposure to 'cool white' fluorescents for 45 hours per week throughout your working life may increase your risk of getting cataracts at age 50 by between 2 and 12 percent."

 

"Such an effect is relatively small at an individual level," Walls says, "but if you put this risk across the population, there is an significant increase in the cases of eye diseases."

 

So should you take to wearing UV-blocking sunglasses on the job? If you work outdoors, absolutely. And wear a hat, too. Sunlight produces intense radiation, and those whose work keeps them outdoors, such as fisherman and farmers, have higher rates of cataracts and macular degeneration (damage to the retina that harms vision) than indoor workers, according to previous studies.

 

Shades might look cool in some offices, but most managers want to be sure you're awake at your desk. Here are useful steps you can take:

 

 

This article is reprinted with permission from Rodale.com.