Light Emitting Diodes have been shown to cause epileptic seizures.
Overview of LEDs
The National Library of Medicine has numerous research articles showing profound adverse
effects from LED light exposure. Unlike older style bulbs, properties inherent to LEDs make this light
source intensely damaging. LEDs emit short-wave, white/blue, directional, non-uniform, hyperpenetrating
light which is biologically disruptive and wholly unfamiliar to natural systems. Humans
and wildlife have few defenses against it.
Medical researchers conduct animal studies because medical ethics largely prohibit using
human test subjects identified as high-risk. (Epilepsy, for example, precludes someone from
participating in experiments involving potential seizure-inducing lights including LEDs). Animal
studies are conducted on species selected for commonalities with human biology. The results and the
resulting human implications are often alarming:
A 2019 experiment with mouse embryos demonstrated how short wave LED light interferes
with the embryonic implantation capacity in mice. The number of embryonic nuclei with
fragmented DNA was significantly higher in embryos treated with white light.
A 2019 study on zebra fish revealed that LED lighting affected morphology, locomotor
activities, mortality and hatching rates, oxidant and anti-oxidant parameters and gene
expressions related with melatonin circulation. The “ blue LED-exposed zebra fish all died
within 72 hours past fertilization.”
A 2018 real world study (as opposed to lab results) found that increased skyglow in cities with
LED street lights impacted yet-to-be-born babies, causing reduced birth weight, shortened
gestation and pre-term birth. Boy babies are more vulnerable than girls.
A 2018 paper entitled “Blue Light and Fruit Flies: A Warning for Humans” (Journal of Aging
and Mechanisms of Disease) describes LED exposure causing reduction in lifespan, retinal
damage, brain degeneration and aging due to stress. The conclusion says that these findings
should lead to “more research on an urgent basis so that potentially harmful lighting may be
averted.”
These references are recent, but the probability that LEDs caused harm to living organisms was
recognized many years ago. Here’s some background on how – despite this foreknowledge – LEDs
came to be installed where they’re exposing everyone and everything, just about everywhere:
The lighting industry has also known for decades that LEDs cause toxic effects. LEDs were a
specialized technology, not expected to move out of the laser category and into regular use.
By the mid-2000s, however, the industry turned away from promising work on super-efficient
incandescent bulbs and focused on LEDs instead. Side-stepping toxic effects, emphasizing energy
savings and branding LEDs as ‘green,’ LEDS began suddenly turning up in consumer products, offices,
schools, medical facilities, outdoors and in public light fixtures without further examination. The public
was mostly unaware – and the industry barely mentioned – the breadth and variety of potential damage
from LED exposure to living things of all kinds.
Engineering research has different goals than medical research. The lighting industry
emphasized the lack of specific laboratory evidence on LEDs’ human health impacts, neglecting to
mention that high-risk, human, LED-susceptibility tests can’t be conducted because of danger to the
participants. What the lighting industry did know was that LED exposure was capable of wreaking
biological, neurological and endo-chronological havoc. They forged ahead regardless.
In 2018, still focusing on efficiency and with a motivation to ban incandescent bulbs, The
European Union asked SCHEER (The Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Emerging
Risks) to review recent evidence to assess human health risks from LEDs. The transition to LEDs was
already well underway, creating pressure and momentum to reach a favorable finding, one that would
permit the continued proliferation of LEDs. However, that meant it became necessary to narrow
SCHEER’s attention to an artificially limited segment of society.
Thus their conclusion misleadingly reads:
“There is no evidence of direct adverse effects from LED emissions in normal use
by the general healthy population.”
This sounds reassuring until you realize that The Committee doesn’t define ‘normal use.’
And when they refer to the ‘general healthy population,’ they’re explicitly excluding babies, children,
adolescents, the elderly, and people with migraines, lupus, autism, epilepsy, and other photosensitive
disorders. These are the individuals who DO experience “direct adverse effects” from even brief LED
exposure. As Dr. John Lincoln of Lightaware pointed out to the Committee, their conclusion about safe
levels of LED use fails to account for one third of the global population.
The committee also managed to overlook that – going forward – every person who makes it to
old age, and everyone born to an LED-lit world will, inevitably, spend years in at least one high risk
category (In fact, since LED exposure can cause epigenetic and gestational harm, infants are at risk
before they are born.) The committee doesn’t explain that “no evidence” just means a lack of human
studies. Nor did SCHEER factor in chronic or cumulative effects, or increasing sensitization from
repeated exposure over time. The Committee’s report frequently refers to knowledge gaps, absence of
information, unquantifiable data and of the need to monitor future adverse health effects as problems
arise. Not address, not fix, only monitor. They would rather approve a product with known risks for the
public than take precautions beforehand to protect the vulnerable.
The US Dept. of Energy also played a role. As mentioned, lighting industry research on LEDs
goes back decades. The DOE presumably consults that research. The DOE is surely aware of the
implications. In 2012, discussing the issue of flicker and dimming devices, DOE reports real world
mitigation methods “can be challenging,” “little can be assumed,” and that effectiveness is “difficult to
predict.” In terms of who should worry about this? The US Department of Energy website reads:
“ Sidebar: Who cares about flicker?
Anyone who is sensitive
Anyone responsible for human health, well-being and/or
performance in spaces with electric lighting
At-risk populations for specific impairments
- photosensitive epilepsy: 1 in 4000
- migraine sufferers
- not all at-risk populations identified
Young people
Autistic people “
Utility companies may offer things like shields, dimmers,’warmer’ or amber bulbs,
modifications meant to reduce discomfort and damage from LEDs. These measures don’t actually
remove the problem and none are designed to protect anyone at acute short-term or immediate risk.
Nor do these methods address the unprecedented threat to insects and wildlife from LED light
pollution. Grave, photo-toxic LED impacts are still building up in the bodies of everyone exposed.
By 2015 (still discussing flicker) a DOE presenter told annual Lightfair attendees that LEDs are
“acceptable for all but the most unusually sensitive individuals.”
DOE doesn’t elaborate on how many people that might be, or what alternatives those people will have
once their communities install lighting which they can’t medically tolerate. That presentation was part
of the DOE’s wholesale endorsement for universal public installation of LEDs.
No-one asked, and no-one warned the public about becoming part of a vast, involuntary
de-facto experiment on persistent LED exposure. Bear all of this in mind when reading the research
literature cited below. Years after LEDs started eclipsing the lighting market and cropping up in homes,
schools, businesses and public spaces indoors and out, the language is still that of uncertainty about just
how serious, or potentially irreparable, the outcome of ubiquitous LED exposure will actually be.
Based on mounting scientific evidence, the results will be catastrophic.
One Third of Us at Risk – The Medical Science of LEDs – MarieAnn Cherry
News Stories
Opinion Letter New York Times – January 31, 2022 – MarieAnn Cherry explains why she needs incandescent light bulbs as a person with epilepsy.
Studies
Blue light and fruit flies: a warning for humans. Dr. Liji Thomas MD, Oct. 18, 2019. NEWS Medical
Life Science Journal.
The effect of light exposure on the cleavage rate and implantation capacity of preimplantation murine
embryos, Bognar Z, Csabai TJ, Pallinger E, Balassa T, Farkas N, Schmidt J, Görgey E, Berta G,
Szekeres-Bartho J, Bodis J. J Reprod Immunol. 2019 Apr. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2019.02.003.
White light-emitting diodes (LEDs) at domestic lighting levels and retinal injury in a rat model, YuMan Shang, Gen-Shuh Wang, David Sliney, Chang-hao Yang, Li-Ling Lee. 2014 Mar;122(3):269-76.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.1307294.
Blue light exposure in vitro causes toxicity to trigeminal neurons and glia through increased
superoxide and hydrogen peroxide generation. V. Marek, et al. Free Radic Biol Med. 2019 Feb
1;131:27-39. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.11.029.
“A single night light exposure acutely alters hormonal and metabolic responses in healthy
participants.”Albreiki MS, Middleton B, Hampton SM. Endocr Connect. 2017 Feb;6(2):100-110. doi:
10.1530/EC-16-0097.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28270559/
“Light-induced retinal damage using different light sources, protocols and rat strains reveals LED
phototoxicity.” Krigel A, et al. Neuroscience. 2016 Dec 17
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27751961/
“White LED Light Exposure Inhibits the Development and Xanthophore Pigmentation of Zebrafish
Embryo.” Üstündağ ÜV, et al. Sci Rep. 2019 Jul 25;9(1):10810. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-47163-y.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31346212/
“Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDS): Implications for Safety.” Health Phys. 2020 May. doi:
10.1097/HP.0000000000001259.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32251083/
“Light Pollution, Sleep Deprivation, and Infant Health at Birth.” Argys, Laura M. and Averett, Susan
and Yang, Muzhe. IZA Discussion Paper No. 11703. 20 Aug 2018
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3234226
“Impact of Various Electromagnetic Radiations on Human Health and Biodiversity”, Vaishali Anand
Pathak. International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), December 2016
https://www.ijsr.net/get_abstract.php?paper_id=ART20163886
“Smartphone Blue Light is Linked to Colon Cancer and Depression” Environmental Health Trust, Aug
30, 2020
https://ehtrust.org/smartphone-blue-light-is-linked-to-depression/
“Potential Biological and Ecological Effects of Flickering Artificial Light.” Inger R, Bennie J, Davies
TW, Gaston KJ. PLoS One. 2014 May 29.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4038456/
“Consequences of Artificial Light at Night: The Linkage between Chasing Darkness Away and
Epigenetic Modifications”, Abraham Haim, Sinam Boynao and Abed Elsalam Zubidat. March 15th
2019 DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.84789 https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/65856
“Shining a Light on the Impacts of Our Innovations.” By Ainissa Ramirez. Issues in Science and
Technology. Vol. 37, no.3, Spring 2021 https://issues.org/impacts-innovations-blue-led-lightainissa-ramirez/
“SCHEER (Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks), Opinion on Potential
risks to human health of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)”, 6 June 2018.
https://ec.europa.eu/health/sites/default/files/scientific_committees/scheer/docs/scheer_o_011.pdf
“OPINION of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety on the
effects on human health and the environment (fauna and flora) of systems using light-emitting diodes
(LEDs)” ANSES. 5 April 2019
https://mdsafetech.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/5g-anses-french-study-blue-light-2020.pdf
“Wireless Silent Spring”, By Cindy Russell, MD VP Community Health, SCCMA
https://mdsafetech.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/wireless-silentspring_-sccma-oct-2-2018.pdf
“When nights are no longer dark: Effects of artificial light at night on agroecosystems” Maja Grubisic,
LED Professional Review, November 2018 https://www.led-professional.com/resources1/articles/when-nights-are-no-longer-dark-effects-of-artificial-light-at-night-on-agroecosystems
“LED lighting increases the ecological impact of light pollution irrespective of color temperature” S.M.
Pawson, M. K.-F. Bader. October 2014 Ecological Applications 24(7):1561-1568
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/14-0468.1
“Artificial light at night as a new threat to pollination” Knop, E., Zoller, L., Ryser, R. et al. Nature
548, 206–209 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23288
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature23288
“A Global Perspective on Firefly Extinction Threats”, Sara M. Lewis, Choong Hay Wong et alia,
Bioscience February, 2020 / vol.70 No. 2
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/2/157/5715071
“New LED Streetlights may Double Cancer Risk, new research warns”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/04/26/new-led-streetlights-may-double-cancer-risk-newresearch-warns/
“Lethal effects of short-wavelength visible light on insects”, Hori, M., Shibuya, K., Sato, M. et al. Sci
Rep 4, 7383 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep07383
https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07383#Sec2
“LED streetlights decimating moth numbers in England” Damian Carrigan, The Guardian,
August, 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/25/led-streetlights-moth-englandeco-friendly-sodium-insect-decline
“Mechanistic, ecological, and evolutionary consequences of artificial light at night for insects:
review and prospective.” Desouhant, E., Gomes, E., Mondy, N. and Amat, I. (2019) Entomol
Exp Appl, 167: 37-58. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eea.12754
“Artificial light at night causes an unexpected increase in oxalate in developing male songbirds.”
Thomas Raap, Rianne Pinxten, Marcel Eens, Conservation Physiology, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2018,
coy005 https://academic.oup.com/conphys/article/6/1/coy005/4865903
“Artificial light at night alters grassland vegetation species composition and phenology.” Bennie, J,
Davies, TW, Cruse, D, Bell, F, Gaston, KJ. J Appl Ecol. 2018; 55: 442– 450.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12927
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.12927
“Exposure to artificial light at night increases innate immune activity during development in a precocial
bird.” Chandan Saini, et.al. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative
Physiology,Volume 233, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2019.04.002.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1095643319300893
“A transition to white LED increases ecological impacts of nocturnal illumination on aquatic primary
producers in a lowland agricultural drainage ditch.” Grubisic M, et.al. Environ Pollut. 2018
Sep;240:630-638. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.04.146.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29772513/
“Blue light-induced retinal lesions, intraretinal vascular leakage and edema formation in the all-cone
mouse retina” P Geiger, M Barber, C Grimm and M Samadzija, Cell Death and Disease, Nov 2015
6,e 1985;doi10.1038/cddis.2015.333 published online 19 November 2015
“Association of Outdoor Artificial Light at Night with Mental Disorders and Sleep Patterns Among US
Adolescents” Diana Parkinson, PhD, Kara F Rudolph, PhD, Emma K Stamp PhD, et alia
JAMA Psychiatry July 8, 2020; 77(12): 1266-1275 doi 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.1935
“Study Links LED Streetlights to Breast and Prostate Cancer” Lightaware, April 27, 2018
https://lightaware.org>2018>04>study-links-led-streetlights-to-breast-and-prostate-cancer
“Bright Outdoor Lights Linked to Colorectal Cancer Risk” Alicia Green, August 14, 2020 Cancer
Health https://www.cancerhealth.com>article>bright-outdoor-lights-linked-to-colorectal-cancer-risk
“Regular Light Bulbs Made Super-efficient With Ultra-fast Laser” ScienceDaily June 1, 2009
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090529121556.htm
“Brighter Light Sources from Black Metal: Significant Increase in Emission Efficiency of Incandescent
Light Sources” A. Y. Vorobyev, V. S. Makin, and Chunlei Guo. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 234301 –
Published 10 June 2009 https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.234301
“MIT’s new warm incandescent light bulb is nearly 3x more efficient than LEDs”
by Cat DiStasio Jan. 17, 2016 https://inhabitat.com/mit-makes-a-warm-incandescent-light-bulbnearly-3x-more-efficient-than-leds/
“Industry, Not Environmentalists, Killed Incandescent Bulbs” by Thomas J. Carney, Senior Columnist
Dec.31, 2013 The Washington Examiner https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/industry-notenvironmentalists-killed-incandescent-bulbs
“Health problems Ignored in the Incandescent Ban” by Rich Mintzer Jan. 17, 2012
Breaking Energy; https://breakingenergy.com/2012/01/17/health-problems-ignored-in-theincandescent-bulb-ban/
“Making Lighting Healthier; artificial illumination can stop us sleeping and make us ill. We need fresh
strategies and technologies” by Karolina Zielinska-Dablowska Jan. 16, 2018 , Journal Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-00568-7
“Clear Evidence ‘Green’ Lighting is Harmful” by Dr. Robert Hanson, Tseung Kwan O
March 15, 2013, Letters, South China Morning Post https://lightaware.org/2013/03/letter-roberthanson-chinese-press/
Quotes
Selected quotes from people experiencing serious health impacts caused by LED light exposure:
“…in the brief moment before my brain reacts, the worst LEDs look like a spray of strobing needles”
“ I have not found a medication that stops seizures that are triggered by the (LED) lights”
“ Daily I am bombarded with seizure triggers (strobes on bicycles, dog collars, police and fire
engines, and LEDs in stores, restaurants, and even in doctors’ offices…which I find
unforgivable!)…They also make my muscles twitch and I feel nauseous.”
“When exposed to LED light sources I experience nausea, vertigo, anomia and sometimes
migraine-like, pounding headaches combined with a feeling of reality loss…certain street lights or LED
panels induce very fierce symptoms after only a short exposure.”.
“ Currently I am not employed or doing any volunteer work because of lighting in
buildings…and other road lighting. I hate going out in public because of light sensitivity.”
“I had no previous health conditions, optical sensitivity or problems with headaches…Bright
blue-ish LEDs also make me feel agitated and nauseous. I’m perfectly well if I stay away from these
lights, but that means staying away from my children’s school, the health center and hospital, most
churches and meeting houses, libraries…much of life as I knew it. The times the symptoms last depend
on the length of exposure to the lighting, but for ages afterwards I feel incredibly drained and down and
‘wrong’ all over.”
“This situation has recently gotten a lot worse with the introduction of LED street
lighting…which causes the worst pain yet.”
“… no longer able to cycle, walk or drive wherever LED streetlights are installed as they
instantaneously trigger bad headaches…which quickly develop into disabling migraines, including
dizziness, not being able to think straight, some loss of coordination, and a general inability to
function… symptoms lasting more than a day.”
“ I have seizures when I glimpse an LED light…Anyone else experiencing the same???”
“I cannot be around any LEDs…incandescent works perfectly well, but the lighting industry is
desperate to phase them out…It’s getting to be where many of us are prisoners in our own homes.”
“ The LED streetlights I have encountered have been pure and utter hell for me. Being around
them I just feel burning right on my eyes…the pain is almost unbearable.”
“Blue light is recognized by photo-dermatologists to be much more penetrating and therefore
much more aggravating for people with light sensitive skin conditions. The high blue content of the
proposed street lighting…I would become totally housebound…”
“ I was bathed in a very bright LED street light from a new housing estate…I felt …a severe
headache, the pain lasted for a month and was accompanied by general light sensitivity to all bright
light.”
“ It is well-known that light can affect the brain in negative ways. Sometimes I think: how has
this happened ? How is this the kind of environment we want to live in?”
“…the impact is far worse from LED lights…I wear special tinted glasses to try and mitigate the
effects, but they only help to a limited degree. I’m concerned about when the relaxing orange street
light outside my bedroom window will be changed to LED, because others have been converted in our
road already.. if the one outside my window gets changed to LED, that would be a disaster for me.”
“ I have special glasses I wear when going out that seem to help with bright lights. With the
LEDs it can be tricky. If I notice any place I went to has LED lights, then I make it (a point to)
remember. It helps me avoid them (LEDs).”
“ all new street lights including LEDs make me feel disoriented, lose my balance and be unable
to sense my feet… I have to hold onto another person to stop myself falling. After being exposed, I
suffer a migraine.”
“ Most LED street lights make me feel awful and unable to function well, with migraines,
dizziness, pain, extreme discomfort, being on edge, and a substantial feeling of general malaise. Non-LED street lights are totally fine for me!”
“ Street lights in my area were changed over four years ago from sodium…the effect on me so
devastating (that I have) barely left the house or even opened my front door in the evening since they
were installed. I can also be affected during the day as many LEDs are actually on permanently…”
“ I was already unable to work due to LED lighting in the offices but losing the freedom to be
outside or even look outside at dawn or after dusk is a further disability I am having inflicted upon me.
The winter months are a particularly difficult time as I have to draw the blinds and curtains in the
middle of the day to avoid feeling ill.”
“a devastating change…excluded from work and leisure outside the house…(no) classes or
meetings, even just walking through the town is impossible (since LED street lighting arrived)…very
upsetting, but better than living in constant pain…”
People with epilepsy are explicitly protected under the federal ADA. One in 26 people have
epilepsy. A question about problems with LEDs was posed to a private Facebook group for people
with epilepsy. 85 out of 172 respondents answered ‘yes’ in some form, an almost 50% rate of
affirmatives, despite the fact that photosensitive epilepsy is only known to occur in 3-4% of
people with epilepsy overall. This statistic of near 50% speaks to the extreme power of LED
exposure to trigger seizures and other adverse neurological effects.
Question: “ Do LEDs lights cause problems for you? “
“LEDs are the worst. I do traditional bulbs in my home…I always need a hat and do not go out
much at night anymore.“
“ Yes they (LEDS) do and they cause migraines! They are horrible! “
“When I first saw LED light it just killed me. I felt blinded by it! “
“Yes, if I see an LED light for a long period of time I will have a seizure and then get a bad
headache after. “
“In the frozen food section at all supermarkets, those (LED) lights give me a pre-aura sensation
with a headache, dizziness, as well as confusion. “
“We only have non-LED in our home. Our daughter has a great deal of trouble with LED lights
– they aggravate her epilepsy, as do florescent lights. “
“I wish LED lights would be illegal.“
“Yes, Headlights that are LED murder me at night. My girlfriend has to turn the dash lights all
the way down because she has an LED touchscreen. Friggin’ blue LEDs are just the absolute worst,
though.“
“ Yes, they (LEDs) do cause problems for my kid. (they are seizure triggers.)“
“ LEDs are horrible to look at when driving. They are the worst!!! I just don’t understand how
(LED headlights) could be legal.”
“Within seconds of being exposed to LED lights, even if I cannot see the actual light source, I
begin to feel the effects. My symptoms are typical auric sensations before a seizure and migraine. I feel
dizzy, cranky, shaky, I get heartburn, I am drawn to the source of the light. After a few minutes, I’ll
usually sit down – assuming I’m alone, which doesn’t happen much – and either vomit or cry, or both.
As a result of ubiquitous use of LED lights, I am now confined to my home, and I struggle to find
lighting I can even use at home. When the exterior LED lights are turned on, I must close myself in my
bedroom on the other side of the house. I suffer from (partial complex) seizures, so I mostly ‘blank out’
during and after exposure. If exposed long enough, I suffer status migraines that last for ten days.”
“ My biggest fear is not being able to drive again, but my next fear is not being believed and there
being no treatment as a result of that.”
“…my experience with LEDs compared to other lights? They are THE WORST.”
“when the (supermarket) freezer section lights automatically turn on, if my wife walks up to
them, they throw her into a seizure.”
“…other areas of the city were being changed to LEDs…and I was getting headaches whenever
I went into town. The street lighting department tried to find compromises (by) trial testing amber
LEDs (2700K) and forms of shielding, but I still got headaches…they agreed to keep my street and
some surrounding streets (sodium street lights) The future is uncertain – could the decision later be
changed? How could I ever move house?”
“ a large open-plan office block I visited regularly for work and meetings changed overnight to
LED strip lights. I immediately felt very uncomfortable and was in pain looking across the room…I had
to leave the building as I had a headache and felt sick..the headache worsened and I would say it was
the worst headache of my life. After many repeats of these symptoms in different places all with LED
lights…and lots of optical and neurological investigations and trying various medicines over several
years, the only way I have been able to manage my symptoms is to try and avoid all significant LED
light sources. With the exponential growth of LED lighting in all its forms, this has left me virtually
housebound and unable to work, shop, socialize etc….”
“I have photosensitive epileptic seizures…LEDs lights do cause me problems.”
“I’m not photosensitive (but) I definitely notice..in a room lit only by LEDs …if you turn your
head, everything looks fragmented while your head is in motion.”
“ (yes, for our son’s epilepsy…bright lights like those in stores) don’t trigger a convulsive sort of
seizure, but they get him extremely agitated so that he goes into what we call ‘autistic mode’ – he’ll go
rigid and make repetitive sounds.”
“Yes, LEDs effect people with seizures…schools on my driving route with LED signs…store
lights are another story…(like once, at the pharmacy, I had to wait half an hour)…the stupidity of having
an epileptic stand there for thirty minutes under those lights! I have to drive home and no-one warned
me. Yes LEDs effect epileptics!”
“…after using (my upgraded computer) for a few hours, I felt terrible, with brain fog, tiredness,
dizzy, with a headache…I woke next day with a serious migraine. I still have symptoms, tingling scalp,
foggy mind etc. I now have an even lower tolerance to LED lights.”
“This lighting is a problem for Chiari Malformation as well…we are all affected by fluorescent
lights and I already know the new LED types are not much better.”
“The parking garage has LED lighting. The second (I am in the garage) I get a light-headed
feeling and nausea…I cannot use LED light bulbs without feeling quite ill. My time in public stores,
these days, has to be very short.”
“I’ve never had migraines…but recently I was in Walmart and it felt like the lights were flashing,
it seemed exceedingly bright. I am experiencing the same thing now at work. They’ve changed the
lighting to LEDs in our warehouse and now this is happening.”
“I assume there is a great deal of pressure from the LED industry to force adoption of their products.”
Controversy
Epilepsy Foundation – The Epilepsy Foundation has refused to acknowledge that LED light beams trigger epileptic seizures.
Letters to Government Officials
January 15, 2022 – Letter to ATSDR Eastern Section requesting investigation of LED streetlights as a toxic substance.
Letters to Doctors
Dr. Nicholas Abend – Nicholas Abend, Pediatric Neurologist, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (abend@email.chop.edu) – Letter to Dr. Abend – January 16, 2022
Dr. Alison Pack – Professor of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medial Center (ap390@cumc.columbia.edu) – Letter to Dr. Pack – January 15, 2022
Dr. David Ficker – Professor of Neurology, University of Cincinnati (david.ficker@uc.edu) – Letter to Dr. Ficker – January 14, 2022
Dr. Angel Hernandez – Division Chief of Neurology, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (angel.hernandez@helendevoschildrens.org) – Letter to Dr. Hernandez – January 14, 2022
Dr. Joseph Sirven – Former Editor-in-Chief, Epilepsy.com (jsirven@gmail.com) – Letter to Dr. Sirven – January 13, 2022 – We informed Dr. Sirven that has an ethical duty to post information on epilepsy.com about how LED light beams trigger seizures.