Lok Sabha Question No. 2169 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-04
Subject: Adverse Health Effects of LED Bulbs
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Anto  Antony, Balashowry Vallabbhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2169 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.07.2019

## ADVERSE HEALTH EFFECTS OF LED BULBS

2169.  SHRI ANTO ANTONY: SHRI BALASHOWRY VALLABHANENI:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is encouraging the use of LED bulbs/lights and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;

(b) whether  the  Government  has  noticed  that  recent  study  in  France  reveal that the use of LED lights is photo-toxic and can cause damage to retina and if so, the details thereof;

- (c) whether it is scientifically proven and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government has carried out any study to find out the impact of exposure of LED lights on eyes and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) if  not,  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  conduct  the  same  in  near future and if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  POWER,  NEW  & RENEWABLE ENERGY AND THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR SKILL DEVELOPMENT & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

( SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

(a) : Hon'ble Prime Minister launched the National LED Programme on 5 th  January, 2015 which has two components (i) Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for  All  (UJALA)  to  provide  LED  bulbs  to  domestic  consumers,  and  (ii)  Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) to replace conventional street lights with energy efficient LED street lights. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a JV  of  PSUs  under  the  Ministry  of  Power  is  the  implementing  agency  of  the programme. The objectives of the National LED Programme is to (i) to reduce energy consumption in lighting sector which helps DISCOMs to manage peak demand, and (ii) to promote the use of the most efficient lighting technology at affordable rates to domestic consumers leading to reduced energy bill.

As  on  28 th   June,  2019,  EESL  has  distributed  over  35.16  crore  LED bulbs and installed over 92 lakh LED street lights across India.

…………2.

(b) to (e) : As per the information received from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a white paper of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational  Health  and  Safety  regarding  LEDs  has  concluded  that  acute exposure to blue rich lights causes retina photo toxicity and exposure to blue rich lights in evening and night causes disruption of circadian  rhythms.

Further,  Central  Power  Research  Institute  (CPRI),  an  autonomous organization  under  Ministry  of  Power  has  informed  that  looking  straight  into bright, point-like sources of light such as LED bulbs, clear filament and including the  sun  can  cause  damage  to  eyes.  Further,  lamps  not  conforming  to  relevant standards may pose hazards to skin and eye.

The Government has not carried out any separate study to find out the impact of exposure to LED lights. However, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)  has  mandated  safety  and  performance  standards  for  LED  bulbs  and  LED tube lights. Further, recognizing the photo-biological impact of light sources, BIS has  also  mandated  standards  on  photo-biological  safety  of  Lamps  and  Lamp systems.  The Indian standards for LED Lamps and LED Tube light [IS 16102 (Part 1)  and  IS  16614  (Part  1)]  includes  mandatory  marking  requirement  for  photobiological hazard-related  risk group  labeling of lamps as given in IS 16108 (Part 2). At present, there is no specific proposal to conduct any separate study to find out the impact of exposure of LED lights.

LED  bulbs  procured  by  EESL  under  UJALA  scheme  conform  to Quality  Control  Measures  i.e.  IS  16102  (Part  1)  and  (Part  2):  2012  specified  by BIS. These standards have been made mandatory in May, 2015 by BIS and are applicable to domestic manufacturing as well as imports.

LED  bulbs  are  placed  under  mandatory  regime  of  Star  labeling program of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) w.e.f. 1 st  January, 2018. As part of this programme, it is mandatory for the manufacturers of LED bulbs to submit photobiological test report for respective LED bulb model in accordance with the National Standard IS 16108- Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems.

*************