German inspection services giant launches blue light filtration standard in Shenzhen

TUV Rheinland, a global leader in independent inspection services, launched a new blue light filtration standard for digital devices and accessories on Wednesday in Shenzhen, a city with a booming electronics sector in South China's Guangdong province.

"This new standard provides consumers with a Retina Protection Factor, or RPF value, which is an easier way to understand the level of high-energy visible blue light being filtered from a digital display," said Jay Yang, vice president of electrics at TUV Rheinland Greater China.

Recent studies have shown that people are growing concerned about the potential long-term health impacts of increased digital screen time and cumulative blue light exposure on the eyes.

The standard was co-developed by TUV Rheinland, Healthe - a leading blue light filtering technology supplier based in Minneapolis - and several globally recognized organizations from the eye care community.

It measures the level of protection based on the Spectral Weighting Factors for Blue-Light Hazard, published by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) in 2013 and adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 2015.

"The TUV Rheinland blue light filtration standard provides important new information for digital device consumers," said David Friess, an internationally recognized optometrist who leads Healthe's Eyesafe Vision Health Advisory Board. "Given the growing body of research involving eye health and systemic concerns around chronic digital device exposure, filtering the harmful blue light spectrum between 415-455nm is important. Yet at the same time we want to maintain the superior color quality of the display," said Friess.

ZAGG, a US screen protection accessories maker, became the first to acquire TUV Rheinland blue light management certification for accessory products in the press conference.

"With this new standard, we plan to tap into the Chinese mainland by the end of this year," said Steve Chan, director of ZAGG China Operations.