Comparison of ophthalmic toxicity of light-emitting diode and organic light-emitting diode light sources

Ikhyun Jun,Hae-Sol Shin,Eung Kweon Kim,Jiyeon Kim,Soo Jung Han,Kyoung Yul Seo,Tae-Im Kim,Sang Chul Yoon

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-68565-3

Ikhyun Jun, Hae-Sol Shin + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-68565-3

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Jul 14, 2020
Citations: 9	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Yonsei University, National Medical Center

Abstract

The use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has rapidly increased in recent years. However, the effect of OLEDs on human health has not been studied yet. We investigated morphologic and functional changes after OLEDs exposure of human ocular cells, including corneal, conjunctival, lens, and retinal pigment epithelial cells, and mouse eyes. In corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells, the levels of reactive oxygen species production and interleukin-8 expression after white light-emitting diodes (LED) exposure were significantly greater than those after OLED exposure. Although no gross morphologic changes of the eyelid or cornea were found in LED- or OLED-exposed mice, oxidative stress on ocular surface was significantly increased, and the outer nuclear layer (ONL) was significantly shorter in both light-treated groups than the control group. Moreover, ONL thickness was significantly lower in the LED group than the OLED group. The electroretinography response was significantly lower in light exposure group, and there was significant difference between LED- and OLED-treated mice. Although OLED exhibits certain ocular toxicity, it can be less toxic to eyes than LED. The higher blue-wavelength energy of LED light might be the reason for its higher toxicity relative to OLED.

Highlights

The use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has rapidly increased in recent years
In the Chang cell line, which is derived from conjunctival epithelial cells, Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production levels were significantly higher in white LED (WLED)- and Yellow LED (YLED)-exposed cells (18- and 11-fold higher levels, respectively) than in unexposed cells, there was no significant difference in this regard between OLED-exposed and unexposed cells (Fig. 1b and Supplementary Fig. S1b)
Both ARPE-19 and HLE-B3 cells exhibited similar results as the corneal and conjunctival cell lines (Fig. 1c, d), with ROS production being significantly higher in WLEDexposed cells than in OLED-exposed cells

Summary

Introduction

The use of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has rapidly increased in recent years. Organic LED (OLED) is an LED containing an organic-compound emissive electroluminescent layer that emits light in response to electric c urrent[6,7]. It is a next-generation light source that can help produce lighter, thinner, and flexible-lighting p anels[7]. OLED is made by combining diodes that emit three wavelengths of radiation, and, because the energy efficiency of its blue light is not high, the energy of its blue-wavelength light is not as high as that of LED at the same luminance For this reason, OLEDs might be less toxic to eyes than LEDs. OLED-associated toxicity studies have not been conducted yet. This study investigated the ophthalmic toxicity of OLED to evaluate the advantages and feasibility of converting from LED to OLED light sources

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