Abstract

In our hyper-connected world, we spend countless hours in front of digital screens emitting blue light (BL) with the general perception that this is safe for our skin, but the infiltration of electronic devices in our daily lives does not come without consequence. There is scarce data that touches on the effects of BL on human skin. Moreover, the data available so far has been performed on basic cellular models that are far from the complexity of human skin. This study focuses on the identification of the BL induced damage using 3D models. We found that direct BL exposure to the skin generates ROS leading to oxidative stress marker generation including protein carbonylation, nitrotyrosine, 4-hydroxynonenal. In addition, the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 which is responsible for extracellular matrix degradation during chronological aging and photoaging processes is increased. These data show that blue light emitted by electronic devices affect skin health and may be involved in premature aging.