Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are increasingly being used for general lighting in offices and play an important role in a growing number of other applications – for instance in electronic devices as computers, laptops or smartphones. It is sometimes claimed that LEDs would be more dangerous in terms of photochemical damage to the retina (known as the blue-light hazard) than conventional light sources.

The paper presents results of blue-light hazard assessment of an LED, incandescent, halogen and compact fluorescent lamps, as well as displays of laptops and smartphones following the requirements of the Standard IEC/EN 62471 "Photobiological safety of lamps and lamp systems". It shows that in terms of their level of photobiological safety, LED lamps for general lighting are not different from conventional lamps and can be considered safe under reasonably foreseeable conditions of use. Laptop and smartphone displays pose no risk concerning the blue-light hazard.

The complete article is a chapter of the book "Proceedings of the 29th CIE SESSION Washington D.C., USA, June 14-22, 2019" (http://files.cie.co.at/x046_2019/x046-PO110.pdf).