BY NICK ROGERS

The Ohio Roundtable

CHARDON, OH- Light Emitting Diodes, or LEDs, are an everyday part of our lives. They illuminate our tablets, our TVs and our smart phones. Today their omnipresence now extends far beyond our homes and could represent an ominous portent few have fully acknowledged.

LED street lights have been rapidly erected by municipalities all over the country – like the City of Chardon – and it’s understandable why this is the case.

“The main reason for converting to LED street lighting is energy efficiency; LED lighting can reduce energy consumption by up to 50% compared with conventional high pressure sodium (HPS) lighting,” Louis J. Kraus, MD said in a Report of the Council on Science and Public Health entitled, Human and Environmental Effects of Light Emitting Diode (LED) Community Lighting.

Despite the current consensus on LEDs’ energy-saving properties and subsequent economic viability, a growing body of scientific data is emerging which implicates LEDs as a potential source of serious health problems for humans and animals. Due to a complaint voiced by a Chardon resident who wishes to remain anonymous, Director of Public Service Paul Hornyak replaced an LED fixture with a traditional HPS light. However, according to Hornyak, the change is indefinite.

“Keep in mind that it is only as permanent as the bulb lasts and that LED is imminent at some point,” Hornyak said.

The changeover in Chardon was authorized by Dean Hayne of First Energy’s Regional External Affairs Department, along with City Manager Randy Sharpe. Hayne provided the specs on the remaining LED lights that flank local Chardon streets and most of the city as a whole. Within the city limits, the lights are GE Evolve ERLC units with an output of 4000 lumens and 4000 Kelvin. The lights run exceedingly bright, and although they appear white to the eye, LEDs give off large amounts of blue light in the nanometer, or nm, wavelength. This output has the propensity to generate big problems over time.

“Artificial light, particularly in the blue spectrum, can decrease melatonin production and serotonin,” said Martin Aubé, co-author of a Spanish study entitled Evaluating the Association between Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Breast and Prostate Cancer Risk in Spain. Melatonin plays an integral part in the body’s ability to regulate circadian rhythms, also known as the sleep cycle, a shortage of which can also lead to cancer and other cellular malfunction.

According to another Spanish study – this one from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid entitled Effects of Light-emitting Diode Radiations on Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells In Vitro – LED exposure can have significant and harmful impacts on general eye health.

“Exposure to LED lighting affect the growth of RPE cells [retinal pigment epithelium], produce cellular stress increasing ROS [reactive oxygen species] levels accompanying an increase of DNA damage and apoptotic cells,” The study said.

In their 2010 white paper, The International Dark Sky Association (IDSA) outlined the potential negative impacts of the technology.

“…such lighting also increases the likelihood of glare and interferes with the ability of the eye to adapt to low light levels,” which is “…a particular concern for older people,” The paper said.

The deleterious effects do not end there. A University of Haifa paper entitled Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health, environment and stellar visibility, said that the mass propagation of LED light will exacerbate known and possible unknown effects of light pollution on human health, environment, and on visual perception of the Universe by humans.

Dr. Alexander Wunsch, a German photobiologist, has long been an outspoken critic of LEDs.

“I call these LEDs Trojan horses because they appear so practical to us,” Wunsch said. “They appear to have so many advantages. They save energy; are solid state and very robust. So, we invited them into our homes. But we are not aware that they have many stealth health-robbing properties, which are harmful to your biology, harmful to your mental health, harmful to your retinal health, and also harmful to your hormonal or endocrine health. [We] don’t have this kind of light quality in nature. This has consequences.”

Travis Longcore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Architecture, Spatial Sciences, and Biological Sciences at the University of Southern California, has also spoken frankly on the topic.

“Other species are just as vulnerable to disruption of their circadian rhythms as are humans, and often more so,” Longcore said.

“Many birds navigate by the moon and star reflections at night. Many insects need a dark environment to procreate,” said the AMA report.

Some citizens already concerned about the health effects of electromagnetic frequencies from cell towers, NEXRAD facilities and “small cell” antennas have pointed out that LEDs are not just a different kind of light. These products are smart devices capable of wireless transmission. The GE Evolve ERLC units selected by the City of Chardon and installed and maintained by First Energy Corporation are, in the company’s own words, ‘LightGrid^TM ’ Compatible.

When asked about this, Hayne said, “While these may be considered Smart capable, FirstEnergy has not invested in any infrastructure to communicate with the lights.” He declined to mention whether First Energy plans to communicate wirelessly with the lights at a later date.

Whistleblowers such as activist Mark Steel of the United Kingdom have spoken out about the potential to weaponize LEDs and other smart city infrastructure, like “small cells,” against the citizenry. In a YouTube video entitled 5G LED STREET LIGHT TECH BREAK DOWN, Steel takes apart an LED light that had been previously erected in Gateshead, England. He shows not only the wireless antenna connected to the top of the light, but also what he claims is a military-grade target-acquiring radar scanner lying within.

“This is a weapons system, alright,” Steele said. “Now, I know it’s masquerading as a light, but it’s a weapon.”  

According to some, there are solutions short of the unlikely total removal of these lights in favor of the familiar HPS. The IDSA came up with revised Fixture Seal of Approval, or FSA, guidelines in 2014, the goal being to limit blue light emission from outdoor lighting by lowering the acceptable color temperature for approved lighting products to 3000K or below.

The Haifa study suggests that an effective law to control light pollution should strongly limit the short wavelength blue light. With regard to Chardon, according to Hayne, there was talk of using a special photocell to allow the lights to be dimmed, but this remains a future wish list item. LEDs are not just brighter, cheaper, energy-efficient lights. They are potentially part of a much larger smart city network and potentially part of a significant biological problem down the line. This technology has never-before been released on such a grand scale, and it represents a mass experiment taking root in your hometown. Do you consent?