Dear Supporters,
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the federal agency mandated to develop and properly carry out an Electronic Product Radiation Control Program under 21 U.S.C. 360hh-ss. The FDA is required to establish and maintain a liaison with other federal agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to test and evaluate electronic products that emit electromagnetic radiation. This includes LED headlights.
On March 30, 2025, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FDA for the records related to its Radiation Control Program. The FDA had 30 working days to determine if they would comply. Over a year later, the FDA still has not complied, and thus, on August 13, 2026, I filed a FOIA lawsuit against the FDA in federal court.
https://www.softlights.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Baker-v-FDA-FOIA-II_pkg.pdf
As you can already tell, LED headlamps are hazardous for our eyes. It is the FDA's job to liaise with NHTSA to develop performance standards to limit hazardous light from sources such as LED headlamps. My public records request is a first step towards finding out what the FDA has actually done to date, or if FDA leadership has simply decided not to comply with the law.
Sincerely,
Mark Baker
President
Soft Lights Foundation
www.softlights.org
mbaker@softlights.org
X: @softlights_org
Bluesky: @softlights-org.bsky.social