November 19, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions requesting that the corruption at the FDA CDRH be addressed via Senate investigation and during the confirmation process for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
November 18, 2024 – Soft Lights Foundation President Mark Baker sent the following letter to GM, Stellantis, and NHTSA:
Dear Mary Barra, CEO, General Motors,
49 U.S.C. 30118(c)(1) states, “A manufacturer of a motor vehicle or replacement equipment shall notify the Secretary by certified mail or electronic mail, and the owners, purchasers, and dealers of the vehicle or equipment as provided in section 30119(d) of this section, if the manufacturer learns the vehicle or equipment contains a defect and decides in good faith that the defect is related to motor vehicle safety.”
A defective product is one that is unreasonably dangerous. Over 64,000 individuals have signed a petition notifying GM and NHTSA that LED headlight technology is unreasonably dangerous, and therefore defective. (https://www.change.org/p/u-s-dot-ban-blinding-headlights-and-save-lives). The Reddit site /r/fuckyourheadlights contains photo and video evidence of this defective and dangerous LED headlight technology. (https://www.reddit.com/r/fuckyourheadlights/)
Therefore, as per 49 U.S.C. 30118(c)(1), as an act of good faith, General Motors is required to notify NHTSA, vehicle owners, and dealers that LED headlight technology is defective and poses an unacceptable safety risk.
November 16, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation emailed Ford and NHTSA and notified them that they have failed to comply with 49 U.S.C. Section 30118 and that Soft Lights Foundation President Mark Baker intends to file a lawsuit for non-compliance.
November 7, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent a letter to President-elect Donald Trump requesting that he repeal the DOE regulations that effectively banned the incandescent light bulb.
November 1, 2024 – MarieAnn Cherry of New York wrote a Letter to the Editor that was published in the Altamont Enterprise which contains extensive references to the hazards of LED lighting.
November 1, 2024 – LED radiation exposure reports for October 2024. LED Incident Reports. Fuckyourheadlights. Petition Comments.
October 31, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation is quoted in this article about excessively bright headlights in The Guardian.
October 31, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a Health and Environmental Impact Assessment to the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
October 25, 2024 – Mark Baker sent a letter to Target regarding discriminatory blue LED flashing lights on a video surveillance system. Target agreed to turn off the blue LED lights.
October 22, 2024 – NHTSA failed to make a decision on the Soft Lights Foundation petition to set an upper limit on headlamp intensity within the required 120 days. The Soft Lights Foundation sent a letter to NHTSA requesting a justification for the delay.
October 20, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent the following letter to the US House Energy and Commerce Committee:
Dear Energy and Commerce Committee,
Increasing the efficacy of producing visible light photons by creating a blue-rich directional beam, and then marketing that increase in efficacy as equivalent to an increase in efficiency by making post-hoc claims that blue/white LED lighting products are safer, provide better visual acuity, and reduce glare is a scam. A blue-rich directional beam was never about improving the energy efficiency of the tungsten filament light source, but always about increasing the number of visible lumens per watt and nothing more.
Congress directed the Department of Energy to develop an equivalent to the incandescent light bulb using solid state technology. Instead, the DOE has perpetrated a massive fraud on the American public by switching out the soft, uniform glow of the incandescent light to the harsh, directional light of the LED, and then falsely claiming to Congress and the public that both types of light are the same. The Soft Lights Foundation requests that the Energy and Commerce Committee open an investigation into the entire LED fraud.
October 10, 2024 – Mark Baker presented to the Friends of Merrymeeting Bay on the impacts of LED light. The 1-hour presentation discusses the physics of LEDs, the adverse human and ecosystem health impacts, and our regulatory and legal actions.
October 9, 2024 – This news article states that the UK Department for Transport has authorized the research organization TRL to study glare from vehicle headlights. This study is to be completed in the Spring of 2025.
October 3, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent the following letter to the FDA and CPSC.
Dear Michelle Tarver, Acting Director, Food and Drug Administration CDRH, and Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Chair, Consumer Product Safety Commission,
21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6)(A) requires that the FDA and CPSC maintain a liaison on techniques, equipment, and programs for testing and evaluating LED Visible Light radiation from children’s toys. Currently, the liaison between the CPSC and FDA does not exist, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6)(A), and neither the FDA nor the CPSC have published performance standards for LEDs in children’s toys to protect the eyes of children.
On July 8, 2024, the French ANSES published a report that existing European standards for children’s toys with LEDs are invalid and must be updated. (https://www.anses.fr/fr/system/files/AP2022SA0193EN.pdf). In the USA, there are no regulations whatsoever for children’s toys with LEDs, putting the safety of children at risk.
The Soft Lights Foundation requests that the FDA have TEPRSSC review this ANSES report in cooperation with the CPSC, as required by 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6)(A), and that TEPRSSC and the CPSC propose performance standards that would set limits on LED intensity for children’s toys.
October 1, 2024 – Solid State Lighting: Review of Health Effects – A detailed literature of the health impacts of LED lighting by the International Energy Agency.
September 30, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted the following monthly reports to the FDA, NHTSA, and members of Congress: LED Incident Reports, Photo and Video Evidence, Petition Comments.
September 30, 2024 – Mark Baker filed a Small Claims lawsuit against the city of Vacaville for using discriminatory RRFBs.
September 27, 2024 – Yolo County Small Claims Court issued a ruling against Mark Baker in Baker v. Regency Centers, and Baker v. City of Woodland by stating “This court finds insufficient evidence plaintiff suffered cognizable harm caused by the light.”
September 26, 2024 – Soft Lights Foundation President Mark Baker filed a Motion to Voluntarily Dismiss his lawsuit against the FDA that was filed on January 22, 2024. This is a strategic move in favor of filing more narrowly focused lawsuits against the FDA and other federal agencies for non-compliance with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6)(A).
September 26, 2024 – The city of Glendale, California denied the Soft Lights Foundation’s request to eliminate discriminatory LED flashing lights. Here is the response from the Soft Lights Foundation:
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Mr. Eccleston,
I am in receipt of the city of Glendale’s denial of the Soft Lights Foundation’s request to comply with state and federal laws to protect the health and safety of individuals with disabilities. (see attached). I note that you chose in your letter to ignore laws that protect individuals with disabilities. The letter that you provided is similar to many letters that we have received from cities across the state, claiming that the use of LED flashing lights is for “safety” while ignoring that those same LED flashing lights are life-threatening for individuals with epilepsy, autism, PTSD, migraines, and others. The city of Glendale has acted with malice via this despicable conduct in regards to the willful and conscious disregard for the rights of individuals with disabilities.
1. The 14th Amendment of the US Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause requires the city of Glendale to protect individuals with disabilities equally as those without disabilities. Choosing to protect the safety of individuals who can neurologically tolerate LED flashing lights, but placing individuals who cannot neurologically tolerate LED flashing lights at risk of injury or death is a violation of the 14th Amendment.
2. The ADA prohibits discrimination and requires the city of Glendale to ensure that alterations such as switching to LED flashing lights does not interfere with path-of-travel for individuals with disabilities and that the alteration ensures that the area around the alteration is readily accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities. Given that LED flashing lights cause non-epileptic and epileptic seizures, migraines, panic attacks, and thoughts of suicide for individuals with disabilities, the alteration of installing and operating LED flashing lights, including on vehicles, is a violation of the ADA.
3. California Vehicle Code section 25250 prohibits flashing lights unless authorized by the California Legislature. The Legislature has not authorized laser flashing lights, LED flashing lights, flashing lights that cause life-threatening seizures, or flashing lights that impair vision. Thus, the use of LED flashing lights on city of Glendale vehicles is unlawful.
4. As you may know, we have exhausted all administrative remedies with government agencies at the local, state, and federal level. Therefore, I have begun filing Pro Se lawsuits in the hope that the Courts will recognize that the 14th Amendment, ADA and other laws are still valid and that cities such as Glendale cannot simply wish them away. I have noticed at the trials that I have attended so far that the officials sent by the government agency are required to respond under oath, and thus, when asked to speak under oath, they have no answer for why a city should be allowed to ignore the rights of individuals with disabilities or why a city should be allowed to trigger a seizure, migraine, or panic attack.
5. As per Section 835 of the California Government Code, the city of Glendale is now liable for any photobiological, neurological, psychological, hormonal, or physical injuries caused by the use of LED flashing lights because Glendale has received Constructive Notice that the use of such LED flashing lights creates a dangerous and discriminatory condition.
September 23, 2024 – Mark Baker, President of the Soft Lights Foundation, filed a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration and US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for failure to comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6)(A) and maintain a liaison for LED vehicle headlamps, and against the FDA for dissolving TEPRSSC, in violation of with 21 U.S.C. 360kk(f).
September 21, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent the following letter to all members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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Dear Senator Bernie Sanders, Chair, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions,
This week, at a rally for Donald Trump in Tucson, Arizona, many members of the audience suffered serious eye injuries. The likely cause of the injuries was LED lighting. The company that installed the lighting, Clearwing, issued the following statement:
“There’s nothing to rule out. We (and all the companies in our industry) have used these fixtures on hundreds of events over decades. They are safe.” (https://www.kvoa.com/news/n4t-investigators-more-trump-supporters-report-eye-injuries-experts-weigh-in/article_d9b0443c-77b9-11ef-80a8-0f48b40d5fb3.html). The statement by Clearwing is false, as the industry has switched from traditional lighting sources to LED lighting sources that are hazardous and dangerous.
Congress passed the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act in 1968 and this law is codified as 21 U.S.C. 360. The law directs the Food and Drug Administration to implement a Radiation Control Program for electronic products that emit electromagnetic radiation. This includes LED products such as LED vehicle headlights, LED streetlights, LED flashing lights on emergency vehicles, and LED stage lighting. However, the FDA terminated the Radiation Control Program at least as far back as 2016. Thus, the FDA is not studying the impacts of LED lighting, the FDA is ignoring reports of injury from exposure to LED lighting, the FDA is not consulting or liaising with other federal agencies, and the FDA has not published any performance standards for LED products.
Jeffrey Shuren was the Director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health for the past 14 years. It was his decision to abandon the FDA’s Radiation Control Program so that he could focus his efforts on regulating medical devices. Mr. Shuren retired in July, 2024. I contacted FDA CDRH Acting Director Michelle Tarver, but she did not respond.
Congress must step in and open an investigation into the FDA’s decision to abandon the Radiation Control Program mandated by Congress in 21 U.S.C. 360ii. The FDA also dissolved the 15 member Technical Electronic Product Radiation Safety Standards Committee (TEPRSSC), so the FDA is receiving no advice from technical experts on LED hazards. Congress must investigate these actions. As President of the Soft Lights Foundation, I am offering to testify at a Congressional hearing as part of the investigation into the FDA’s decision to stop complying with 21 U.S.C. 360ii.
The incident at the Trump rally that caused so many eye injuries must not be ignored. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions must open an investigation into the FDA’s abandonment of the Radiation Control Program and failure to minimize exposure to, and emissions of, unnecessary electromagnetic radiation to protect public health and safety as required by 21 U.S.C. 360ii.
September 10, 2024 – Change.org introduced a feature that automatically generates a flyer for our petition to ban blinding headlights. The flyer contains a QR Code.
September 7, 2024 – On August 15, 2024, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration rejected the Soft Lights Foundation requests that OSHA comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6) and cooperate and liaise with the FDA to test, evaluate and set performance standards to protect worker health and safety.
September 2, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted the following monthly reports to the FDA: FuckYourHeadlights Photos and Videos, Ban Blinding Headlights Petition Comments, LED Incident Reports.
August 21, 2024 – FDA CDRH Director Jeffrey Shuren has announced his retirement. Michelle Tarver has taken the role of Acting Director as of July, 2024. The Soft Lights Foundation submitted the following letter.
Dear Michelle Tarver, Acting Director, FDA CDRH,
I have copied Congressman Mike Thompson’s office, and DOJ attorney Scott Kennedy in this email.
It has come to my attention that Jeffrey Shuren has announced his retirement and that you have taken the role of Acting Director at the CDRH. In the announcements that I read, there is no mention of the CDRH’s willful decision to not enact radiation control programs for electronic products that emit radio frequency radiation such as cell towers, cell phones, WiFi routers, and smart meters, or radiation control programs for electronic products that use Light Emitting Diodes to emit Visible Light radiation such as LED vehicle headlights, LED streetlights, LED lamps, and LED flashing lights on emergency vehicles. This decision not to enact radiation control programs is a violation of 21 U.S.C. 360ii.
Because of Mr. Shuren’s decision not to comply with the law, I filed a lawsuit against Mr. Shuren and the FDA on January 22, 2024. This is a significant lawsuit that you need to be aware of. The first hearing is scheduled for September 19, 2024 in the Eastern District of California. I am requesting that the FDA comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a) and enact a radiation control program for LED products.
Another action that Mr. Shuren took was to dissolve the Technical Electronic Product Radiation Safety Standards Committee, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 360kk. TEPRSSC is critical for providing expert advice to the FDA on the impacts of RF and LED Visible Light radiation and must be reconstituted immediately.
My request is that you assert your independence from Mr. Shuren and show your concern for public health and safety and take the following immediate actions. First, publicly announce that TEPRSSC is being reformed and announce the first meeting date. Second, direct the US DOJ to drop its defense of the FDA against my lawsuit. My lawsuit is only asking that the FDA comply with existing law and the FDA should not be fighting this lawsuit. Third, publicly announce that the FDA will implement radiation control programs for RF and LED products, as required by 21 U.S.C. 360ii.
August 18, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a Notice of Private Enforcement to Davis, California and other cities for using LED flashing lights on vehicles in violation of California Vehicle Code Section 25250 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
August 18, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation notified PG&E that LED flashing lights on company vehicles are prohibited by California Vehicle Code Section 25250, the ADA, and Unruh Civil Rights Act, and therefore the LED flashing lights on company vehicles must be turned off and/or removed.
August 14, 2024 – In the case Baker v. Petrovich involving LEDs creating a discriminatory barrier, the Court ruled that the case can continue, stating, “Petrovich’s demurrer to the first cause of action [The Americans with Disabilities Act] in plaintiff’s complaint is OVERRULED. (Code Civ. Proc., § 430.010, subd. (e).) The Court finds that plaintiff has alleged facts sufficient to state this cause of action. (42 USC 12181, subd.
(7)(E); 28 CFR 36.101, 36.402; Martinez v. San Diego County Credit Union (2020) 50 Cal.App.5th 1048, 1060; see Serrano v. Priest (1971) 5 Cal.3d 584, 591; Compl., ¶¶ 2, 12, 15, 16, 30 – 33, 35 – 37.)”
August 9, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a regulatory petition to the California Department of Motor Vehicles to prohibit the use of supplemental LED flashing lights on motor vehicles. Update: 8-14-2024: The DMV rejected the petition. A similar petition was submitted to the California Highway Patrol.
August 5, 2024 – In response to Mark Baker’s lawsuit against the FDA for failing to establish a radiation control program for LED products, the FDA/DOJ responded on July 29, 2024 with a Motion to Dismiss. On August 5, 2024, Mark Baker filed a Response to Motion to Dismiss, and requested summary judgment.
July 28, 2024 – Best Buy is a USA national chain of big box stores selling electronics. They operate LVT video surveillance systems in their parking lots. At the request of the Soft Lights Foundation, Best Buy has agreed to turn off all the dangerous and discriminatory blue LED lights on the LVT system for all their stores across the country to protect the health, safety, and civil rights of individuals with disabilities.
July 28, 2024 – In this July 24, 2024 article, the Head of Operational Delivery for Selwyn, New Zealand states that “crashes at other sites where flashing stop signs were introduced were increasing”.
July 28, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent a Notice of Dangerous and Discriminatory Condition to New York State Parks regarding LED lights. The alteration of adding LED lights is discriminatory and a violation of 28 C.F.R. § 35.151(b)(1).
July 18, 2024 – Soft Lights Foundation President, Mark Baker, files a Small Claims lawsuit against the city of Woodland, California for operating a dangerous and discriminatory Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon that uses excessively intense and digitally flashing LED lights.
July 16, 2024 – Soft Lights Foundation President, Mark Baker, files a Small Claims lawsuit against Regency Centers for operating a dangerous and discriminatory video surveillance system that uses excessively intense and digitally flashing blue LED lights.
July 11, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent a letter to multiple automakers that LED headlights and LED daytime running lights are a defective product design and subject to a product liability lawsuit. General Motors.
July 9, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent a letter to the US Department of Justice attorney that is defending the Food and Drug Administration against the Mark Baker lawsuit. Included in the email address list is an official from each federal agency that is required to comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a) to cooperate with the FDA to publish performance standards for LED products. This action now connects all federal agencies with the FDA and puts them on notice that compliance with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a) is non-discretionary. DOJ, FDA, EPA, NHTSA, CPSC, Access Board, DOL, FAA, FHWA, FMCSA, FRA
July 4, 2024 – An article North Country Now describes the town of Ogdensburg, New York receiving a check for $53,000 from the utility company National Grid for an LED streetlight conversion, despite the NYSPSC investigation into the hazards and discriminatory nature of LED streetlights. The Soft Lights Foundation notified Ogdensburg that LED streetlights create dangerous and discriminatory conditions.
July 2, 2024 – A highway and bridge project in the UK used 1800K LED streetlighting. For the last several years, the DOE and lighting industry have been telling the public that 4000K LED streetlights are necessary to improve visibility and safety. Suddenly, with this project, 1800K LEDs are perfectly fine and improve visibility. As we knew already, the switch to 4000K LEDs is completely based on false claims. Original post.
July 1, 2024 – Sasha Rodoy was victorious in her lawsuit against Barnet, UK, City Council, and the council was required to replace 4000K LED with 2200K LED. Here, Sasha has made a video showing the workers replacing the 4000K LEDs with 2200K LEDs.
July 1, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted the monthly LED Incident Reports to the FDA Radiation Health Customer Service. Reddit Posts, LED Headlight Petition Posts, LED Incident Reports, NYSPSC Case 21-02623.
June 30, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent a letter to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requesting that NHTSA comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a) and cooperate and liaise with the US Food and Drug Administration to publish performance standards to limit the emissions of and exposure of people to, unnecessary Visible Light radiation from Light Emitting Diodes used in automotive lighting.
June 30, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation sent a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency requesting that the EPA comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6) and cooperate and liaise with the US Food and Drug Administration to publish performance standards to limit the emissions of and exposure of people to, unnecessary Visible Light radiation from Light Emitting Diode products. Unnecessary Visible Light radiation is also known as “light pollution”.
June 29, 2024 – The magazine Stuff published an article about eye-searing LEDs appearing on every new electronic product. The Soft Lights Foundation contacted the US Consumer Product Safety Commission and requested that the CPSC comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii(a)(6) and cooperate with the FDA to publish performance standards for LEDs on consumer products.
June 24, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation has provided constructive notice to the following US federal agencies that the use of LED products can create a dangerous and discriminatory condition: EPA, DOL, FAA, Access Board, NHTSA, FMCSA, FHWA, CPSC, DOE, FDA.
June 21, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a public comment to Los Angeles Metro on the proposed Link Union Station project which describes the dangerous conditions and discriminatory barriers that LED lights can create and asks that these issues be addressed in the EIS/SEIR.
June 19, 2024 – In response to an article about the San Francisco Planning Commission’s approval of a giant LED sign for the Palace Hotel, the Soft Lights Foundation submitted a letter, notifying the Palace Hotel that an LED sign will violate 28 C.F.R. § 36.402(a)(1) and create a discriminatory barrier.
June 18, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation notified the city of Sacramento and other municipalities that LED flashing lights create a dangerous condition and that the city has a Due Care obligation to eliminate the dangerous condition.
June 16, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation wrote a letter to Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General requesting an investigation of FDA CDRH Director Jeffrey Shuren and his willful and reckless decision to not confer or liaise with any other federal agency on the regulation of LED products.
June 16, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation wrote a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf requesting a response to Representative Mike Thompson and Mark Pocan regarding regulation of automobile LED headlights.
June 11, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted the full set of public comments and associated files for New York State Public Service Commission case 21-02623 involving LED streetlights in the Village of Cambridge and the utility company National Grid to the Food and Drug Administration as evidence that LED Visible Light radiation is hazardous and must be regulated as required by 21 U.S.C. 360ii.
June 11, 2024 – US Representative Mike Thompson submitted a letter to the US House Energy and Commerce Committee requesting that the committee hold a hearing with NHTSA officials to discuss blinding LED headlights.
June 7, 2024 – Ophthalmologist Dr. Michael Chua published a video describing the impacts of LED headlights and he mentions the Soft Lights Foundation petition to ban blinding headlights.
June 7, 2024 – Social media video post shows perfect example of unregulated LED lights on a vehicle.
June 7, 2024 – NHTSA acknowledges the Soft Lights Foundation petition to regulate Correlated Color Temperature for headlights.
June 3, 2024 – LightED magazine reports on the FDA’s rejection of the Soft Lights Foundation petitions.
May 31, 2024 – Inside Lighting reports on the FDA’s decision to not regulate LED products.
May 30, 2024 – The Edison Report profiles the efforts of the Soft Lights Foundation.
May 29, 2024 –
Press Release: May 29, 2024
US FDA Decision: No Regulations for LED Products
On May 24, 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration rejected four Soft Lights Foundation petitions to regulate LED products. (https://www.softlights.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Final-Response-Citizen-Petitions-FDA-2022-P-1151-FDA-2023-P-0233-FDA-2023-P-3828-FDA-2023-P-3879.pdf)
In summary, the FDA’s position is that the FDA should not regulate LED products, that the FDA has no intention of regulating LED products, and that the FDA will not collaborate with any other federal agency to regulate LED products.
This FDA ruling has major policy and constitutional implications. As noted in a history of the 1968 Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act, one of the reasons that Congress passed the law directing the FDA to regulate electromagnetic radiation from electronic products was to provide federal regulatory oversight that was previously handled at the local and state level. (https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8846732/Tran06.pdf).
Since the FDA is the only federal agency with Congressional authority to regulate LED products, the FDA ruling means that all other federal agencies, including NHTSA, DOE, OSHA, CPSC, EPA, Access Board, FAA, FHWA, and others are blocked from publishing regulations for LED vehicle headlights, LED street lights, LED light bulbs, LED flashing lights on emergency vehicles, LED office lights, LED appliance indicator lights, or any other LED product, even if those LED products cause harm.
The FDA’s decision to not regulate LED products thus pushes regulation of LED products to state and local governments, which is likely an unconstitutional shift of regulatory authority from federal agencies to state and local agencies, and a clear violation of the Congressional mandate codified in 21 U.S.C. 360ii.
Without an intervention by Congress or the Courts, municipalities, businesses, manufacturers, and employers are each now forced to develop and publish their own policy for LED products to ensure the health, safety, and civil rights of the public and the protection of the environment, and a failure by an entity to establish the necessary health, safety, and civil rights policies in relation to the entity’s use or manufacture of unregulated and unsafe LED products makes the entity liable for tort or discrimination claims due to negligence or a failure to provide a duty of care.
Contact:
Mark Baker, President, Soft Lights Foundation
mbaker@softlights.org
www.softlights.org
May 28, 2024 – On May 24, 2024, the FDA denied all Soft Lights Foundation petitions to regulate LED products in a single letter.
May 28, 2024 – Australia. Parliament House worker has seizure after request for lighting change not acted on.
May 27, 2024 – This photo of a Wells Fargo using LED outdoor lighting was submitted to the Ban Blinding LEDs Facebook group. The photo illustrates that the lights are using energy despite the absence of anyone using the lights, that the lights are a public health and safety hazard due to the high glare and blue wavelength light, and that the lights have no shielding to prevent light trespass nuisance.
May 27, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted the following comment to the International Association of Fire Fighters:
Dear Sean DeCrane, Director of Health and Safety Operational Services, International Association of Fire Fighters, I was notified today of this important article research study: June 30, 2021 – Study of Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Subject to Pulsed LED Lighting – The findings indicate that pulsed light will cause a deviation of heart rate and blood pressure from that under stable light. Results showed that after a short lighting period (20 min), heart rate and blood pressure were significantly higher under 40 Hz pulsed than that under stable light.
In conjunction with numerous other studies about flashing lights, this study confirms that it makes no sense to use flashing lights on emergency vehicles which will increase blood pressure, impair vision, interfere with cognitive functioning, and increase the risk to the lives of fire fighters, when static, low-luminance lights provide the needed warning without the adverse impacts on health and safety.
May 25, 2024 – Mark Baker posted the following comment to the NYSPSC comments for case 32-E-0727. (https://documents.dps.ny.gov/public/MatterManagement/CaseMaster.aspx?MatterCaseNo=23-E-0727)
On May 20, 2024, Inside Lighting published an article about researchers examining the cause of purple LED streetlights made by American Electric Lighting, which is a subsidiary of Acuity Brands, and which is the manufacturer of the LED streetlights that have been installed in the Village of Cambridge by the utility company National Grid. (https://inside.lighting/news/24-05/heres-why-led-streetlights-are-turning-city-highway-purple). The article states, “Streetlights serve not only to illuminate roads and pathways but also to ensure the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers at night.” Given the clear statement that streetlights are provided “to ensure the safety of pedestrians”, if an LED streetlight causes a life-threatening seizure for some individuals, then the LED streetlight is an unsafe product, and thus a violation of National Grid’s tariff requiring National Grid to provide “safe” services.
The research organization is the LED Systems Reliability Consortium (LSRC). In this particular research study, the impacts of LED streetlights on individuals with epilepsy, migraines, autism, photophobia, PTSD, EMS, and other medical conditions was not studied. As has been demonstrated via epidemiological data collected by the Soft Lights Foundation, LED street lights can trigger non-epileptic and epileptic seizures, suicidal ideations, migraines, impaired cognitive functioning, and eye pain. The FDA has not published the Congressionally mandated performance standards for LED streetlights to ensure the safety of the public. Given that this article makes clear that streetlights are provided to ensure public safety and that a streetlight that merely turns purple becomes a safety hazard, an LED streetlight that causes members of the public to lose consciousness is certainly even more of a safety hazard. A declaration by the NYSPSC that LED streetlights are safe and pose no safety hazard would be in direct opposition to the evidence. A declaration that LED streetlights do pose a safety hazard would align with the evidence, and would require National Grid to remove the unsafe, unapproved, unregulated LED streetlights.
May 20, 2024 – The BBC reported that the town of Swanage in the county of Dorset, UK is changing it’s LED streetlights after only two years due to health reasons.
May 19, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a complaint to the US Health and Human Services Office for Human Research Protections due to the FDA CDRH’s failure to regulate LED products and for allowing an uncontrolled, unsupervised real-world experiment involving human exposure to LED Visible Light radiation. On May 20, 2024, HHS OHRP responded that this issue does not fall within their jurisdiction.
May 17, 2024 – An article was published in the Bay Area Telegraph that refers to people buying Rough Service incandescent light bulbs as way to avoid purchasing low-quality and hazardous LED light bulbs.
May 17, 2024 – In response to the Soft Lights Foundation submission of 202 pages of comments representing over 60,000 individuals who signed the petition to ban blinding headlights, US DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent to the Soft Lights Foundation a letter stating that he cannot find time in his schedule to discuss the issue. In response to Secretary Buttigieg’s failure to shown concern for the health and safety of the public, members of the Reddit group r/fuckyourheadlights have renamed LED headlights as Buttigieg Lights and created a meme.
May 16, 2024 – Texas Public Radio published a podcast on the impacts of LED headlights on Jamie Troese in Pennsylvania, describing how LED headlights have essentially imprisoned her in her home.
May 15, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a federal regulatory petition to NHTSA to set limits on Correlated Color Temperature for vehicle headlamps and daytime running lights.
May, 2024 – LED Applications Require Exposure Limits to Safeguard Consumers – Opinion article in Photonics Spectra mentions Mark Baker.
May 12, 2024 – Car and Driver magazine publishes an article about super-bright LED headlights that are frying our corneas.
May 10, 2024 – Mark Baker is a guest on the The Power Couple podcast and discusses LEDs and their impacts.
May 8, 2024 – The UK Parliament debates headlight glare. Transcript. Video.
May 7, 2024 – NBC News, Fort Meyers, Florida, aired a video on excessively bright LED headlights.
May 6, 2024 – Mark Baker filed a discrimination lawsuit against CBRE, Inc. and Petrovich Development Company, LLC for discrimination. Defendants declined to make a good faith effort to turn off an intense LED light, thus denying Plaintiff full and equal access to the shopping center.
May 4, 2024 – The San Francisco Standard reports that the Founder of Illuminate has claimed that their plan to add 50,000 LED lights to the San Francisco Bay Bridge is now funded. Adding tens of thousands of LED lights to the SF Bay Bridge will have a massive adverse impact on human and ecosystem health, and will create a discriminatory barrier for individuals with neurological disabilities. The Soft Lights Foundation has notified numerous decision makers at CalTrans, Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee, Illuminate, and others that this project requires a CEQA analysis, NEPA analysis, and ADA Accommodation Plan.
May 3, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation assisted an individual with a light trespass nuisance issue by sending a letter to the Sammamish, Washington city council. Councilmember Amy Lam responded and contacted Code Enforcement. A case was opened, and Code Enforcement made a visit to the resident and asked them to solve the light trespass issue. The resident agreed to remove the offending light.
May 1, 2024 – The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile submitted a file to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on headlight glare as the following two documents:
GRE-90-20 – (FIA) Glare on Road Traffic: European consumer study 2024
GRE-90-40 – (FIA) European survey on glare in road traffic
Below are some stats from the report:
- 80 % of the respondents find the glare intolerable or annoying
- 50 % almost always or regularly feel dazzled
- 52 % of respondents pinch their eyes shut or even close them briefly
- 64 % have problems perceiving objects in the vicinity of the dazzling light source
- 25 % stated that they continued to see an image of the light source for a limited time after passing it (afterimage), or even felt pain
April 30, 2024 – Donald Berry started the change.org petition to ban blinding headlights in 2016. Today, Mr. Berry made a presentation to staff for US Representative Judy Chu in which he describes the impacts of LED lights and requests action from Congress.
April 27, 2024 – Resident Wins LED Street Light Court Case Against Council – Barnet, UK resident Sasha Rodoy settled a 4 year legal case with Barnet. The town agreed to switch the 4000K LED streetlights to 2200K. In this video, David Kurten, the host of this UK TNT Radio show, discusses the Sasha Rodoy lawsuit and blasts LED streetlights. If 4000K LED streetlights provide better safety and visual acuity, then why would Barnet agree to switch to 2200K? The obvious answer is that 4000K LED streetlights are unsafe and never should have been installed in the first place.
April 19, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a 19-page report to Henderson, Nevada on the hazards and discriminatory nature of LED street lights.
April 18, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted 202 pages of comments from the Ban Blinding Headlights petition to the office of US Representative Mike Thompson to deliver to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
March 29, 2024 – America’s Drivers Agree: LED Headlights Are Just too Bright – This story in the Wall Street Journal dispels some of the myths about LED headlights propagated by the government and industry.
March 20, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation received a letter from NHTSA stating that they have received our petition to set an overall limit on lower beam headlight intensity.
March 1, 2024 – The Soft Lights Foundation submitted a federal regulatory petition to NHTSA to set an overall limit on lower beam headlight intensity.
January 22, 2024 – Mark Baker filed a lawsuit against the FDA for failing to comply with the Administrative Procedure Act and for violating citizen’s 5th amendment rights.