-30 per cent of adults spend over nine
hours a day using digital devices 4 .
Seventy-two per cent of Canadian adults
aged 18 to 39 years old (10 million
people) use at least three electronic
devices per day.
- Short-term exposure to the flickering,
glaring and reduced contrasts caused
by harmful blue light may be one of the
reasons for eyestrain, physical and
mental fatigue. Indeed, 90 per cent of
Canadian adults aged 18 to 39 years
old reported at least one eye-related
symptom. The two main symptoms
experienced are tired eyes and head-
aches, followed by a disrupted sleep
cycle, neck and back pain, etc. 5
- In the long-term, the cumulative
effects of UV rays and blue-violet light
reaching the eyes’ front and back in-
ternal tissues are contributing factors
to eye diseases 6 such as cataracts and
age-related macular degeneration
(AMD). These are two leading causes
of vision loss among adults over the age
of 50 7 and with an aging population, the
occurrence of cataracts and AMD will
be multiplied by 2 in 30 years 8 .
As the Canadian population is grow-
ing and our digital devices usage is
increasing, so are the needs for visual
correction and protection, as well as
eye disease prevention. Several solu-
tions offered by Essilor Canada are
currently available to protect the eyes
from harmful light, with coatings or
lenses that selectively filter harmful
blue-violet light and protect from dam-
aging UV rays. With the Eye Protect
System, eyeglass wearers benefit from
optimal protection against harmful
blue-violet light and UV rays by
combining Crizal coatings with Varilux,
Eyezen+ and Transitions lenses.
To fulfill our mission, we’re constantly
looking at the market, trying to meet
the needs of today and anticipate
tomorrow’s. We continue to invest to
adapt to the changing environment.
Essilor spends over $265 million in
R&D annually globally to bring inno-
vative products to market that meet
the needs of consumers and will
continue to do that in the years to
come to create differentiation, growth
and value for our business partners.
Sources:
1. Internal Essilor Canada estimation based on Statistics Canada census 2016 and internal surveys conducted by Ipsos and Mc Kinsey with Canadians in 2014 and 2015.
2. Vision Council, Canadian Association of Optometrists, eyehealthcenters.ca 3. Essilor Group research and internal statistics
4. Vision Council 2015 Digital Eye Strain report 5. Ipsos survey conducted with Canadians, 2015
6. McCarty CA, Taylor HR. A review of the epidemiologic evidence. linking ultraviolet radiation and cataracts. Dev Ophthalmol. 2002; 35:21-31. Sunlight and the 10-year incidence
of age-related maculopathy: The Beaver Dam Eye Study. Arch. Ophthalmol., 122, 750-757. New discoveries and therapies in retinal phototoxicity, Serge Picaud et Emilie Arnault,
Points de Vue N°68, Spring 2013 7. World Health Organization. Magnitude and causes of visual impairment. Fact sheet no. 282; 2004 [November]. Available: http://www.who.int/
mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/(accessed 2007 Sept 14). 8. Simplified Extrapolation AMD model. Essilor International, DMS, EL, Jan. 2013. United nation: World Population
Prospects, epidemiologcal and marketing studies.
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