An International Electrical and Electronics Engineers standards working group has published a report looking at the health effects of flicker in LED lighting.

The report, entitled A Review of the Literature on Light Flicker: Ergonomics, Biological Attributes, Potential Health Effects and Methods in Which Some LED Lighting May Introduce Flicker, is open for public comment.

Brad Lehman of the Northeastern University in Boston, who chairs the standards group, said that the document is a survey report and gives no recommended practices or standards as of yet.

"Its intent is to educate stakeholders on flicker with applications in LED lighting, as per the request of several government agencies," he commented.

The health effects considered in the report include concerns over invisible (not perceivable to the human eye) flicker at frequencies below 165 Hz, which could cause headaches, migraines, impaired ocular motor control and impaired visual performance.

The issue of LED flicker is a relatively new concept that came about after the Energy Star criteria for Integral LED Lamps included a requirement for LED operating frequency to exceed 150 Hz.