Is it time to say goodbye to blue-pump LEDs?

As claims abound on the negative impact of the blue light emission from phosphor-converted white LEDs, perhaps it is time to take a lesson from fluorescent lamp technology. In the quarter century since Nakamura invented the first high-brightness, 450-nm blue gallium nitride (GaN) LED, phosphor-converted white LEDs (PC-LEDs) have come to dominate the lighting market. Driven by the desire for low-cost and high-luminous-efficiency devices, the majority of available PC-LEDs are high-CCT, 450-nm blue-pump variants. As the deployment of PC-LEDs became more widespread, so did reports in the media relating to potential negative impacts of their associated strong blue emission, from photochemical blue-light retinal injury and age-related macular degeneration to disruption of the circadian rhythm.