Energy saving lightbulbs, the real danger

Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:35 pm » by **Fatdogmendoza**

The instructions read like the recovery plan for
an at-home nuclear disaster:

1) Vacate the
room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes.
Turn off heating and/or air-conditioning
systems.

2) Do not use a vacuum cleaner,
but clean up using protective rubber gloves and aim to
avoid creating and. inhaling airborne dust. Leave the
windows open during clean-up.

3) Sweep up all broken
fragments and place them in a hermetically-sealable
bag.

4) Wipe the area with a damp cloth and place that
in the bag as well. Place this bag in another, similar bag
and seal it shut.

5) Do not dispose of the bag in your
household waste. Seek local facility for disposalf.

6) Finally,
wash hands and shoes thoroughly.'

You'd be forgiven
for thinking the substance in question was enriched
plutonium. In fact the guidelines above are for disposing
of broken energy-saving lightbulbs. But can something
so common really be that dangerous? And if that is
the case why do scientists sanction the use- of such
hazardous objects in our daily lives?

CAN A BROKEN ENERGY-5AVlNG
llGHTBULB REALLY DAMAGE THE
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM?

First, his mother noticed a few stray hairs in his hat,
but soon Max's hair began to fall out in clumps. When
the four-year-old started trembling and complaining
of headaches, his parents rushed hiin to a doctor. "All
of the symptoms point to mercury poisoning," the
doctor said in his diagnosis. "Has your son breathed
in any toxins recently?" That's when Max's mother
remembered the floor lamp that fell over and smashed
on the carpet, along with the energy-saving bulb (or
CFL) inside. She had quickly swept up the broken glass
so that Max could carryon playing. She never knew
that there were precise instructions on how to dispose
of broken CFLs. Neither did she know that a broken energy-saving bulb could fill a room with gaseous
mercury - a highly toxic heavy metal. "Mercury is the
Achilles' heel of these lightbulbs. When they break, they
release odourless gases that can damage the nervous
system," explains Jochen Flasbarth, president of the
German Federal Environment Agency. The longer the
substance is inhaled the more nerve cells are eaten
away by the gaseous poison.
It is unlikely, however, that the trail of destruction
ends at the victim's brain. Gary Zorner, Head of Lafu, a
laboratory for chemical and microbiological analysis, put
together a list of potential effects from mercury on the
human body. "The immune system, the reproductive
organs, the liver - there is hardly an area that is not
dangerously impacted by mercury poisoning. "
Today, two years after the first symptoms appeared,
Max is on the road to recovery. "The detoxification
process is progressing nicely," his mother says. She
has cleaned up her house, decontan:1inating it, ripping
up and replacing all the floorboards. Despite all of this
Max's family have no concrete evidence that it was
actually mercury that provoked his illness. A growing
body of research does indicate, however, that CFLs are
more dangerous than manufacturers and government
officials are letting on. So how can there be legislation
allowing the purchase of such a toxic product? And
how can we be sure there aren't any other poisonous
substances yet to be discovered in these new lightbulbs?

THE LIGHTING CONSPIRACY:
HOW CAN THE GOVERNMENT
AllOW THE USE OF PRODUCTS
CONTAINING NEUROTOXINS?

Traditional mercury thermometers were removed from
the market in April 2009 as a result of a European
Union Directive. The reason? The mercury contained
in these devices was found to be highly toxic and
capable of causing serious bodily harm if released in
the event of a breakage. The use of mercury was meant
to be prohibited in other products as well- with a few
notable exceptions. In September of the same year, the
EU introduced regulations calling for the exclusive use
of CFLs throughout Europe and the gradual phasing
out of traditional lightbulbs. Although admittedly more
expensive, EU politicians argued that these bulbs consumed less energy, produced less CO2 and had a
longer lifespan. Studies were also cited that seemed to
underplay the risks of broken CFLs. One such report
found that the amount of mercury released was so low
that it did not result in serious health damage. However,
this study had a flaw in that the laboratory involved
only analysed CFLs that had been previously damaged.
Most of the dangerous heavy metal gas had already
evaporated. Moreover, the scientists had only tested
a total of five lightbulbs. "This study does not have a
sufficient scientific basis to make any reliable statements
about the dangers," says Georg Steinhauser, physicist at
the Vienna University of Technology.
There is also some controversy surrounding the
maximum concentration of mercury permitted by law.
Lab tests at the Department of Environmental Protection
in the American state of Maine found evidence that a
single, broken CFL needs only a few seconds to release
up to 50,000 nanograms (ng) of mercury per cubic metre
in a given room. The reference concentration for airborne
mercury set by the US Environmental Protection Agency
is a maximum of 300 ng/m3. In the UK, Defra, the
government department responsible for environmental
protection, has similar guidelines for metals and
metalloids in ambient air. Further laboratory tests
have shown that CFLs do in fact contain many other
cancerous substances such as phenol, naphthalene and
toluene. In response to these claims, CFL manufacturers
released a statement claiming that these substances
are only present in "insignificant amounts" and that
compact fluorescent lightbulbs "do not cause any
adverse health effects for consumers" . Peter Braun, who
carried out research at Berlin's Alab Laboratory, does
not accept the manufacturers's claims that the bulbs are
entirely safe. "In terms of cancerous substances, there
is no concentration that is completely harmless," he
explains. "Even the lowest doses that are released from
a lighted bulb can produce long-term health effects. "
But what about the environmental impact? Can we say
with absolute certainty that the use of these lightbulbs
actually has a net positive effect on the planet? There
is no question that CFLs consume 80% less energy
and last ten times longer than conventional lightbulbs.
But what the EU commission members drafting the
CFI; legislation did not consider was the high cost of
disposing of these bulbs. If you factor this cost into the
environmental equation, the eco-balance is much worse than the manufacturers would have us believe. Let's also not forget the vast amount of toxic gas released when
the lightbulbs are scrapped - and the reports of landfill
employees who have fallen ill. Be that as it may, on
1 September 2012 traditional lightbulbs will disappear
from our supermarket shelves forever. We can only hope

Source....Wonderpedia

Sun Sep 23, 2012 12:57 pm » by **Neversaydie**

Yeah..that's a very worrying read.
Can the same be said for LED light bulbs. I know these are a bit more expensive to buy but do we need to be worried about those types as well?
I'm only asking because I plan on buying some, but only if there is no risk.

Sun Sep 23, 2012 1:00 pm » by **Malogg**

Neversaydie wrote:Yeah..that's a very worrying read.
Can the same be said for LED light bulbs. I know these are a bit more expensive to buy but do we need to be worried about those types as well?
I'm only asking because I plan on buying some, but only if there is no risk.

Bonus

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/201 ... cient-leds

http://ledsmagazine.com/features/2/6/4

Sun Sep 23, 2012 2:23 pm » by **Bravo69**

You know... I realize there are dangers to mercury.. in high school, we played with it on the lab tables with our hands, and guess what... I am still here, 50+ years later..

I am more afraid of lead poisening... the type that comes cruising out of a barrel at 1000+ ft per second.. everything we touch has a problem with it... we have used flourescent lamps forever.. I still have old "silver" fillings in my mouth, too... sorry.... this topic should be mute....

Sun Sep 23, 2012 2:48 pm » by **Fatdogmendoza**

Bravo69 wrote:You know... I realize there are dangers to mercury.. in high school, we played with it on the lab tables with our hands, and guess what... I am still here, 50+ years later..

I am more afraid of lead poisening... the type that comes cruising out of a barrel at 1000+ ft per second.. everything we touch has a problem with it... we have used flourescent lamps forever.. I still have old "silver" fillings in my mouth, too... sorry.... this topic should be mute....

Provision of information is not scaremongering and if you believe that the information isnt relevant to a forum such as this you probably have another agenda...

the type that comes cruising out of a barrel at 1000+ ft per second :headscratch:

Please enlighten me....oh wise one

By the way

:hiho:

Debate prospers through opinion :flop:

Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:17 pm » by **99socks**

Someone dropped their mercury thermometer in chem lab once when I was in college, all the way on the other side of the room. We were all commanded to stand still and not move until the lab monitor put on those plastic foot covers (like surgeons), came back with an industrial vacuum cleaner, vacuumed everyone from the knees down, examined all of out exposed skin, mopped the entire floor of the lab (maybe 30x50 ft?), and made everyone sign a form saying we received a hazardous waste exposure notice and promised to go to the ER if we had any of the 50 or so symptoms that was listed on the notice.

:geek:

Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:56 pm » by **Oreocannon**

i notice "agents" like bravo69 are around all forums, and every time there is a topic about the new energy saving lamps, and we expose how poisonous they are, someone like him would come and say how when he was young he was playing with it and nothing happened so thats cool folks "please mute the topic". ignorance like his should be rewarded with a ban.

Its like saying the same thing about aspartame, fluoride or injections.

how come there is the same guy on every forum saying "oh i was playing with it when i was young nothing happened"

no teacher in high school would let you play with mercury, that has to be the biggest lie ever.
reported for disinfo

Sun Sep 23, 2012 5:58 pm » by **Oreocannon**

we had energy saving lamps, guess what happened?
from the light....or the stuff they emit my eyes cried every day for 1 months before we removed them.
same with the rest of the family.

Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:09 pm » by **Shaggietrip**

I looked into this a while back. There are many issues with alternative lighting. It is a great subject to re-visit. Thanks for the reminder.

Scroll a couple posts down for info found.
http://www.disclose.tv/forum/cf-light-bulbs-a-serious-health-hazard-t43172-20.html

:cheers:

Sun Sep 23, 2012 7:22 pm » by **Lowsix**

Oreocannon wrote:no teacher in high school would let you play with mercury, that has to be the biggest lie ever.

reported for disinfo

She wasn't playing with mercury.
They were using thermometers.
As clearly stated.

reported for stupidity.