{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-1625","number":"1625","name":"Simhal Maharaj","organization":"","posted":"2026-10-05T04:00Z","received":"2026-10-02T04:00Z","body":"I am concerned about the massive proliferation of LED lights in all areas of our lives, but particularly with respect to automobile headlights and street/outdoor lighting. \n\nThe harsh blue-white color temperature of these LEDs (say, 6000K and above) is dazzling to the eye at night. When I drive past cold white headlights, my vision takes longer to return to normal than when driving past even bright halogen headlights. In addition, my area has mostly replaced sodium street lighting with bright white LEDs. Rather than casting a diffuse glow that makes it easy to discern shapes at night, LED streetlights provide a bright area of light, while the area beyond if not illuminated as well appears even darker in comparison because the eye has to adjust to the bright and harsh LED lighting.\n\nNext, bright white LED street lighting shines through (my) residential windows at night and makes it impossible for me to sleep without an eye mask, meaning I can no longer wake up to sunlight because I need to cover my eyes to block the bright light from the street lights. Harsh/bluish lighting has already been proven to disrupt the circadian rhythm of humans and wildlife alike.\n\nAutomotible headlights now are extremely bright to the point of causing temporary blindness at night. I feel far more unsafe driving at night now than I did ten years ago. I also am frequently blinded as a pedestrian when cars shine their headlights on me. I'm also under 30 with 20/20 vision. This is not a problem limited to those with poor eyesight.\n\nI have also noticed that even when LEDs in public aren't necessarily too bright, they are often very intense light sources coming from small points that tend to be dazzling/blinding when you look directly at them. Street and vehicle lighting should, in my opinion, not only have a limit on the color temperature and brightness of lighting, but there should be a surface intensity light emission limit as well. For the same overall amount of light, a larger light fixture or one with a diffuser will be far easier on the eyes and less blinding than a light fixture or headlight that emits the same amount of light from a very small surface area.","attachments":[],"attachment_inventory":true,"withheld":false,"source":"https://www.regulations.gov/comment/HHS-OASH-2026-0397-1625","tags":["sleep-cognition"],"source_hash":"81631384411624ddf7ba1f497297f8ea42c08decbfe8dcc09fbe6144a00d2103","slug":"sleep-cognition-comment-1625","classification":{"id":"HHS-OASH-2026-0397-1625","body_sha256":"33f1bc86ecf4d30bec9b748e07101cfc31ad6986efff1d7598b42313e6639aad","status":"ai_reviewed","primary_topic":"headlights","topics":[{"id":"headlights","evidence":" our lives, but particularly with respect to automobile headlights and street/outdoor lighting. \n\nThe harsh blue-white co"},{"id":"neurological","evidence":"y) residential windows at night and makes it impossible for me to sleep without an eye mask, meaning I can no longer wake up t"},{"id":"environment","evidence":"o disrupt the circadian rhythm of humans and wildlife alike.\n\nAutomotible headlights now are extremely brigh"},{"id":"standards","evidence":"rightness of lighting, but there should be a surface intensity light emission limit as well. For the same overall amount of light, a large"}],"summary":"Describes glare, impaired night vision and sleep disruption from LED headlights and streetlights, and proposes limits on brightness, color temperature and emitting-surface intensity.","reviewed_at":"2026-10-05T20:06:38Z","review_method":"Full published comment-body review; exact shared paragraphs read once and reused losslessly; distinct official IDs preserved. Attachments and external links not reviewed.","review_source_sha256":"b934be7d67a6a9f27c854c794ede1f0a3413c8f1194219c520b83b39153c1b9b","source_url":"https://rfsafe.net/hhs-comments/data/catalog.json","scope":"Original comment body; attachments excluded"},"forum_topics":["headlights","neurological","environment","standards"],"primary_topic":"headlights","forum_title":"Describes glare, impaired night vision and sleep disruption from LED headlights and streetlights, and pro…"}