General (5)
Susana Barrios
From:Theresa Bass
Sent:Monday, July 17, 2023 10:16 PM
To:Public Comment
Subject:FW: \[EXTERNAL\] LED Streetlights Are Not FDA Approved
Attachments:Unapproved LED Streetlights - Anaheim, CA.pdf
From: Mark Baker <mbaker@softlights.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2023 12:32 PM
To: Theresa Bass <TBass@anaheim.net>
Cc: City Manager <Citymanager@anaheim.net>; Rudy Emami <REmami@anaheim.net>; ADA <ADA@anaheim.net>;
Ashleigh Aitken <AAitken@anaheim.net>; City Attorney <cityattorneysoffice@anaheim.net>; jhenry@scng.com
Subject: \[EXTERNAL\] LED Streetlights Are Not FDA Approved
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Dear City Clerk, Anaheim, California,
Please find attached our public comments regarding LED streetlights which have not been FDA
approved. Please forward to the city council.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
www.softlights.org
mbaker@softlights.org
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9450 SW Gemini Drive
PMB 44671
Beaverton, OR 97008
July 12, 2023
BY EMAIL
Robert Fabela, City Attorney
Anaheim, California
cityattorneysoffice@anaheim.net
Re: LED Streetlights Lack FDA Approval
Dear Robert Fabela,
An LED streetlight is an electronic product which is regulated by the US Food and Drug
Administration. The FDA presentation “How to Get Your Electronic Product on the U.S. Market” details
the authority of the FDA to regulate the radiation from electronic products and the requirements of
manufacturers to receive FDA approval for their electronic products that emit radiation.1
The city of Anaheim, California has installed or is considering installing LED streetlights.
However, the FDA has not approved any LED streetlight products to ensure the comfort, health, and
safety of the public. The FDA is mandated by the 1968 Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act (21
U.S.C. 360ii) to publish performance standards for electronic products that emit radiation, and yet the
FDA has failed to comply with 21 U.S.C. 360ii for LED products, including LED streetlights.
LED streetlights are a human health hazard which have been documented to cause seizures,
migraines, anxiety, nausea, eye pain, and eye injury. In addition, artificial light at night has been
documented to cause significant increases in risk for mood disorders, diabetes, heart disease, breast
cancer, and early mortality. It is likely that LED streetlights have increased acts of misbehavior and
violence. The contact person at the FDA is Robert Ochs, Director, FDA Center for Devices and
Radiological Health, OHT8 (robert.ochs@fda.hhs.gov).
It is negligent for a city to install or operate an electronic product that has no FDA approval, and
which is known to put the public at risk of harm. In order to pursue a claim against a public entity under
California Government Code section 835, a person must show: (1) that the property was owned or
controlled by a public entity at the time of the incident; (2) the property was in a dangerous condition at
the time of the injury; (3) the injury was proximately caused by the dangerous condition; (4) the
dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of injury; and (5) that there was a negligent
or wrongful act or omission within the scope of employment of the public entity’s employee that
created the dangerous condition or the public entity had actual or constructive notice of the dangerous
1 https://www.fda.gov/media/88417/download
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condition.2 (Moncur v. City of Los Angeles, Dept. of Airports (1977) 68 Cal.App.3d 118; Gov. Code §§
830(a)-(c), 835.2.). The installation or operation of LED streetlights meets the criteria for negligence
and liability.
To protect the public from LED visible radiation and to avoid liability, a city must not install or
operate LED streetlights in public spaces. To recover expenses related to the removal of any existing
LED streetlights, the Soft Lights Foundation recommends that Anaheim sue the FDA and the DOE for
failing to disclose to Anaheim that LED products are a human health hazard and for failing to comply
with 21 U.S.C 360ii and publish the required performance standards for LED streetlights.
In any case, Anaheim must not install or operate LED streetlights knowing that the LED
streetlights have not been FDA approved, knowing that the LED streetlights are causing serious adverse
health impacts, knowing that LED streetlights are creating discriminatory barriers, and knowing that LED
streetlights are defective and dangerous.
Sincerely,
/s/ Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
mbaker@softlights.org
cc:
City Manager – CityManager@anaheim.net
Public Works - REmami@anaheim.net
ADA Coordinator – ADA@anaheim.net
Mayor – aaitken@anaheim.net
City Clerk - tbass@anaheim.net
2 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=835.