Dear Supporters,

In 1968, Congress directed the Food and Drug Administration to regulate electronic devices and any electromagnetic radiation emitted by those devices, including visible light.  The US Code of Federal Regulations Title 21, Chapter I, Subchapter J, Part 1040 is titled Performance Standards for Light-Emitting Products.  Lasers and LEDs were both invented in the 1960s, so the FDA developed regulations for Lasers as Part 1040.10.

LEDs were either considered to be covered under part 1040.10 Laser Products, or were simply ignored because their light output was so weak as to not need regulation.

In 2018, the FDA suddenly posted on its website: "LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are different from laser diodes and are not subject to the Federal laser product performance standard."  However, the FDA never explains why it never developed a Part 1040.40 for LED Products.  This situation occurred because the FDA bowed to industry pressure to not regulate LEDs and this is why we now have unapproved and unregulated LED headlights on cars and trucks.

The car makers are using blinding LEDs for headlights without any regulation or approval from either the FDA or NHTSA and neither agency is doing anything about it.

The FDA's failure to publish regulations for LEDs violates the law.  Our next step is to have Congress force the FDA to publish LED regulations or sue the FDA or both.

Sincerely,

Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
mbaker@softlights.org