Your donation helps offset the cost of our lawsuits against cities for LED light discrimination, against businesses for LED light discrimination and light trespass nuisance, and against the federal government for failing to regulate LED Visible Light radiation from LED headlights, LED streetlights, LED light bulbs, and LED flashing lights on emergency vehicles.
MISSION
The Soft Lights Foundation advocates for the protection of people and the environment from the harms of Visible Light radiation emitted by products that use Light Emitting Diodes.
BACKGROUND
High luminance LED products were introduced into society without having been vetted for comfort, health, or safety. The many federal laws that exist to ensure protection of the public were skipped in the rush to convert to this new light source. Government officials have not understood that LED radiation has an entirely different set of physics characteristics as compared to traditional light sources and that LEDs emit a directed energy light that can exceedingly intense. Due to the combination of government officials ignoring existing laws and not understanding the physics of LED light sources, there are no regulations to protect the public from harm.
GOALS
The Soft Lights Foundation seeks to have federal agencies to comply with the law, specifically 21 U.S.C. 360ii, which mandates that federal agencies publish performance standards for radiation emitted by electronic products, which includes visible radiation emitted by LEDs. The lead agency for regulation of LED products is the Food and Drug Administration, but by law, the FDA is required to liaise with the other federal agencies, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Access Board, Department of Justice, and Federal Aviation Administration, to publish performance standards for LED products.
The products that use LEDs include LED vehicle lights such as headlights, taillights, brake lights, turn signals, backup lights, and dashboard displays, LED strobe lights such as on police, fire, and ambulance vehicles, LED General Service Lamps, LED street lights, LED flood lights, LED strip lights in grocery store coolers, overhead LED tube lights in offices, LED flashing lights on signs and towers, LED flashlights, LED bicycle lights, LED billboards, and LED indicator lights on appliances. Our goal is to have the FDA and other federal agencies publish regulations for all these LED products.
There are many individuals who cannot neurologically tolerate the type of radiation emitted by LEDs. The adverse health impacts from LED radiation include seizures, migraines, panic attacks, nausea, agitation, fear, anger, eye pain, and eye injury. LED lighting has drastically increased light pollution which significantly increases the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, mood disorders, and early mortality. The use of LED products is discriminatory and violates civil rights due to a loss of visual freedom and because LED light can trigger a seizure or migraine. Federal agencies must put protections in place to ensure that no individual suffers a seizure or loses a job or cannot use public streets due to the existence of LED radiation.
Government regulators must be educated on the properties of flat surface radiation. The radiation emitted by an LED is a directed energy beam and thus cannot be regulated as a traditional point source. Within the beam, the energy profile follows a mathematical Lambertian shape, which means that the radiation is not spatially uniform. LED radiation does not disperse over distance following an inverse square law, so the light is extremely intense, even at a distance. LEDs have a piecewise spectral power distribution, often with excessive hazardous blue wavelength light. LEDs are a digital device, which means that they exhibit square wave flicker. All these characteristics must be regulated to protect human and ecosystem health.
PROTECTION OF EVERYONE
The Soft Lights Foundation advocates for the protection of all individuals to ensure that they can live their lives free from the harms of LED radiation. It may be necessary for federal agencies to prohibit the use of certain LED products entirely because there is simply no way to make the light safe for everyone. Government agencies must recognize that simply because LED products exist now, does not dictate that society must accept these devices if they are not safe for everyone.
MARK BAKER – FOUNDER
Contact
The Soft Lights Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit in Oregon, USA with EIN 88-1757900. Mark Baker is the Founder and President. We have approximately 1,800 members via our two Facebook Groups: Soft Lights and Ban Blinding LEDs. We are entirely run by volunteers.
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