New Video Breaks Down Purple Streetlight Issue

A recent video from scientist and consultant, Peter Palomaki, tackles the issue of purple and blue streetlights, a phenomenon seen on various roadways in parts of the U.S. and Canada. Following a teardown research months ago by a team led by Dr. J. Lynn Davis, which was reported by Inside Lighting in May and also presented by Davis at the recent Street & Area Lighting Conference in Atlanta, Palomaki’s video explores why the lights are failing and proposes a fix.

The issue stems from the delamination of the phosphor layer on LEDs, causing them to emit blue light instead of white. Palomaki and Matthew Bertram sourced two streetlights from Phoenix — one faulty and one new — to analyze the problem and test a possible solution.

Notably, the video shows an LED module branded with the logo of the now-defunct Universal Lighting Technologies (ULT), which supplied at least one major lighting manufacturer with streetlight modules years ago.

In the video, which has generated over 80,000 YouTube views in its first week, Palomaki demonstrates how applying a layer of phosphor powder and UV-curable ink to the exterior lenses of a broken streetlight restores white light output. This fix enhances illuminance and color rendering, improving both roadway visibility and safety. This solution may work technically, but could be perceived as unfeasible by private owners, communities, Departments of Transportation, and utilities that maintain these fixtures.