Comment from Richard Cherry

This comment was sent to the New York State Public Services Commission but is relevant to this case and to the FDA's response: To NYSPSC 4/18/25 ABOUT THE HIGHER ODDS OF GETTING CANCER AFTER LED STREETLIGHT INSTALLATION: The dim, small amount of high-energy LED light that gets by a curtain or seeps into a bedroom shade is enough to throw off healthy circadian functioning and lead to disease. More light is not necessary, and even so-called “blackout” shades do not effectively block LED lights’ intrusive, far-reaching and damaging properties. LED light can get through sleep masks too, and non-visual light cues can reach a person’s brain and trigger responses through a person’s sinuses. And, please note, no light-blocking method is available for wildlife, which suffer the same harmful effects as humans suffer. The bit of dim LED light that makes cancer more likely can also counteract chemotherapy so that tumors keep growing. Researchers at RPI’s Lighting Research Center have known this since at least a 2018 HCL conference. Similarly, that dim bit of light at night makes it more likely breast cancer will metastasize into the bones. NYS contracted LRC research “experts” for the LED streetlight push. Why did these “experts” not alert NYS to the dangers they knew about? And Many kinds of cancer, liver and kidney damage, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic inflammation, mood disorders, stroke, weakened immunity, shorter, sicker lives… the people of this state deserve to know the risks being forced on their communities with these horrifically damaging LED lights. Additionally, every NY resident with a medical sensitivity to LEDs needs immediate protection from the outright danger they face in LED-lit communities. NYSPSC should swiftly and immediately issue a human health warning. It is the commission’s primary duty to ensure that public utility services like lighting are safe. I repeat, it is the Commission’s primary duty to ensure that public utility services like lighting are safe. All other considerations, including economic ones, are secondary. This duty must include alerting the public to the multitude of risks that come with LED exposure, and acting decisively to stop this endangerment of residents of this state. The NYSPSC cannot ethically continue to allow utility companies to damage residents’ health and interfere with their lives based on what kind of lightbulbs the utility decides to install. LED lighting is not safe, and approving LED conversions violates the Commission’s responsibility to the public. Titles of research articles referenced in this letter: “Disruption of the Circadian Melatonin Signal by Dim Light at Night Promotes Bone-lytic Breast Cancer Metastases” Journal of the Endocrine Society 2019 “Dim Light at Night Impairs Daily Variation of Circulating Immune Cells and Renal Immune Homeostasis” Journal Frontiers in Immunology 2021 “Dim Light at Night Disturbs Molecular Pathways of Lipid Metabolism” Journal of the Institute of Molecular Sciences 2020 “Doxorubicin resistance in breast cancer is driven by light at night-induced disruption of the melatonin signal” Journal of Pineal Research 2015 “Real-ambient bedroom light at night increases systemic inflammation and disrupts circadian rhythm of inflammatory markers” Journal of Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 2024 “Researchers present circadian metrics and health impact of LED light at HCL conference” LEDs magazine 2018