Having looked at many of the Red-Light Therapy products in the marketplace, it is readily apparent that there is no standardization of testing and no way for consumers to accurately compare one product to another.
The great majority of Light Therapy retailers are either ignorant, or falsely misrepresenting their intensity claims usually by 2 times or more to gain leverage over their competitors.
Most product advertisers do not specify the type of meter they use to test their products, but most are using inappropriate cheap Solar power meters which produce nonsensical and greatly amplified intensity readings.
Solar power meters are designed to measure light for purposes very different from that of PBMT, and they do not measure light at individual wavelengths which are the required measurements for assessing PBMT devices.
Andrew LaTour from GembaRed has written extensively on Red Light Therapy Intensity scams, but he is not the first! In October 2018, health equipment consultant Alex Tarris and also more recently Ari Whitten directly pointed out the lies and scams behind intensity marketing. Also, in 2019 Alex Fergus tested the leading panels on the market to find out which brand delivered the highest Irradiance or power output/intensity, the results he measured were significantly lower than what most companies claimed.
For example, using an inappropriate Solar Meter, one leading brand advertises a product as having an Irradiance level of ‘155 mW/cm2 at 6 inches away’, however Alex Fergus using a Hopoo Color Spectrometer (model OHSP-350F) records a measurement of 71 mW/cm2 at 6 inches away.
As a side note, respected expert in the LLLT field, Dr Micheal Hamblin of Harvard, recommends less than 100mw/cm2 as the maximum level power density for LLLT. So, claims of anything over and above this Irradiance level are not only false, but in excess of the recommended intensity.
First, the misuse of incorrect, inappropriate solar meters misleads consumers attempting to compare different products and it makes purchasing decisions challenging.
More importantly, the grossly exaggerated specifications provided by these misguided advertisers of well over “100mW/cm2 at 6 inches away” cannot be cross-referenced with any PBMT (Photobiomodulation) or LLLT (Low level light therapy) studies.
Unfortunately what this means is that consumers are left in the impossible position of not being able to follow a desired dosing schedule thanks to erroneously supplied intensity levels, a big problem given its relevance to the whole science of LLLT.
Imagine purchasing a Vitamin D supplement that advertises 5000mg per serving, only to find they have used uncalibrated scales to measure the serving and you only end up with 2000mg per serving, no doubt you would feel misled or deceived.
Likewise if you buy a panel that advertises 150mW/cm2 based on uncalibrated equipment, but you are getting less than 70mW/cm2 at the advertised distance, then on the same token you would feel deceived.
We at ROJO Light therapy provide accurate intensity measurements using a Hopoo Color Spectrometer, so that you know exactly what dosage of light you are receiving should you wish to follow a desired dosing schedule.
Contrary to the claims of most prominent Light Therapy companies, the reality is that their red light panels do not deliver in excess of 100mW/cm2 at 6 inches away, such claims can only be made with the help of solar power meters which give falsely high readings.
Whilst some light therapy companies are coming to their senses and using appropriate meters for the purposes of PBMT, many are still coming up with clever excuses why they use a solar meter for testing.
But is the solar meter scam the end of the matter? Well one scam usually leads to a second and third in an attempt to gain the edge over their competitors, for further illumination on the dodgy marketing claims of red light panel companies, check out the following blog: Red Light Therapy Scams Explained! Where did we go wrong?
