Skin expert's blue light warning over laptops, phones, tablets and TV

Laptops, phones, tablets, TV's and even LED light bulbs are all sources of blue light and researchers say they could be damaging your skin.

"It's quite short, it's powerful. It kind of gets through your skin right away, and it's everywhere," Dermatologist, Dr Shyamalar Gunatheesan told A Current Affair.

Scientists say five working days in front of a digital device of more than six hours can have the same impact on the skin as spending 25 minutes in midday sun without any protection.

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To put this in perspective, "it takes about seven minutes to actually get a tan. So that is significant".

"Exposure to blue light, especially long, prolonged periods, you do get a bit more hyperpigmentation, so that brown discoloration that can happen," Dr Gunatheesan said.

"We certainly see it predisposes to skin aging, mottling of skin and a bit of dehydration."

The simplest way to stop the impact is to the limit the amount of time on devices.

"It's good for your mental state, but it's also good for your eyes and skin."

Turning down the brightness is also believed to help along with switching the phone or computer to 'night mode' which emits warmer tones.

Dr Gunatheesan suggests using active skincare products that have potent antioxidants including vitamin b3 or vitamin c.

"Typical sunscreens don't block blue light because it's in the visible spectrum."

"Iron oxide is the best visible light blocker. So, a tinted sunscreen or a tinted make-up which has got some iron oxides would actually be better than the sunscreens that we have now," Dr Gunatheesan said.