LED lights in Headington – County response

We have contacted the County Council following national newspaper articles on a recent Public Health England document that referred to adverse health effects of LED street lighting.

The street lighting team has sent us a statement as follows (sic):

“The Council is fully aware of the report published by Public Health England, which builds on previous research which has been available for some time and refers primarily to the much  5000k LED lights that are available on the market which, whilst the most energy efficient, contain a higher level of blue light. Since the council started implementing LED lighting however, the council has acknowledged the need to balance potential savings in energy use and potential health impacts and as such have specified a warmer light for residential areas (3000k) and slightly bluer light (4000k) for the strategic road network. This approach follows the guidance outlined within the PHE report. Notwithstanding this, it is recognised that there are always people who may be more sensitive to such lighting than others, and where this has occurred the council has worked with individuals to install further modifications to minimise the impact and will continue to do so on a case by case basis.”