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Health warning over planned changeover to greener bulbs



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Published Date: 06 January 2008
By Marc Horne
THE UK Government's planned switchover from traditional lightbulbs to low-energy lighting could cause health problems for tens of thousands of people, experts have warned.
The process of phasing out the conventional pear-shaped 'incandescent' bulbs and replacing them with more energy-efficient fluorescent models begins this month and is due to be completed by 2011 as part of the UK's efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

But Professor John Hawk, dermatology spokesman for the British Skin Foundation, warned that the new bulbs will cause problems for people with light-sensitive skin.

Hawk told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Fluorescent lights seem to have some sort of ionising characteristic, where they affect the air around them. This does affect a certain number of people, probably tens of thousands of people in Britain. Certain forms of eczema, for example, flare up anywhere near fluorescent lights.

"I strongly suggest that incandescent bulbs remain available for use in the home."

Keven Verdun, chief executive of the Lighting Association, insisted that the needs of people with medical conditions were being taken into account during the switchover.



The full article contains 191 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

RAV,

Migraines 06/01/2008 00:08:57
Recent alert issued that migraines are caused by low wattage/dim light & "flicker" of these lights.
2

sceptic,

06/01/2008 10:22:19
The simplest solution would be to allow a free choice in light bulbs. Personally I have been happy with them for years but don't see why coercion is either necessary or desirable.
3

Unimpressed one,

06/01/2008 10:36:30
#3, but you've missed the point here. A ban allows the green righteous who walk amongst us to feel important that due to their insistence we are doing something positive to 'save the planet'.
4

bruce borland,

oshawa 06/01/2008 13:20:28
OK, being that the reason the incandescent bulb is inefficient is that it uses energy wasted in excess heat, and since Scotland and Canada require heat in the homes anyway for 9 months of the year, why the move anyway...in Florida of course it is wasted energy but in the northern climates this energy is not wasted...adds little heat but not wasted...now we hear of potential health problems from their use along with the potential health problems with their disposal...mercury remember...methinks someone has done a great lobbying job and stands to make enormous profits from the switch.
5

Kipling,

06/01/2008 15:12:32
I thought this new kind of lighting, which I started to use when it first came out & was very expensive, has a high carbon footprint & a problem with disposing of the bulbs, unlike the old kind. Nor did the bulbs I bought last as long as claimed. Recently purchasing a cheap variant, commonly available at 1 pound shops, I found that at night when turned off it flickered continuously and brightly as if about to explode. Concerned, I got rid of it. A relation won't use them as you can't yet get them small enough to fit into some types of lamp, without their sticking out of the lampshade & looking v.unaesthetic.
6

Helen,

06/01/2008 16:04:08
Unimpressed one #4...Get the chip off your shoulder. Low energy bulbs are essential if we are going to prevent global warming, reduce our carbon footprint and basically have a planet which is still inhabitable by our children's children. There's nothing righteous about being Green but there's something dangerous and sinister about people who deliberately don't want to be Green.
7

Hickory,

US 06/01/2008 16:10:16
Aye, the tree huggers are really pushing these beasties over here. When the danger of the mercury and other badies are brought up, they try to shout you over. Here's the deal; for every one I buy, you can screw one into the bum of a tree hugger. Then, we will see which burns the longer. Did ye know the electro emissions from the converter in the base of the beastie could cause radio reception problems? If you want to really go green, buy LEDs... Now there is an expensive little diddle.
8

Unimpressed one,

06/01/2008 16:33:59
#8, your post is so stupid, I suspect you must have read it off a FoE leaflet. IF (!!) the greens come up with sensible policies I may consider adopting them. However to date nothing any of them says is worth listening to, and so I shall continue to use common sense rather than listening to the p*sh that issues from their mouths.
9

Harry Carnie,

B.C.Canada 06/01/2008 18:47:28
#9...YES ...agree.. What amuses me is the fact that many of the "righteous greens", are impractical fanatics
"jamming" their ideas down the throats of the rest of us.

This bulb business is a good example. In most of our cities (here in Canada)the towers blaze with light the whole night long ..needlessly.
While it makes the city beautiful, it uses a massive amount of power.

Much more than will be saved by forcing us to replace our bloody light bulbs whether we want to or not. Make these bulbs available..and allow us the choice to use them where practical.(which we will)

Al Gore lives in a huge mansion and flys the world in a private jet. David Suzuki(a Canadian Green) lives in a large house and tours in a huge custom bus.

They are forcing us poor S.O.D.s Who live modestly
(1,000sq.ft.house)and drive a practical car(V6) to use these sh***y bulbs to save power?...BAH humbug!
10

Hickory,

US 06/01/2008 21:35:35
Spot on Harry. The tree huggers (Goreistas) will push us into a pile of **** then jump to the next swindle while we work our way out of the mess. They will not suffer because of the money they skimmed. You are right about the incandescent bulb. It emits no harmful rays and delivers needed heat in many areas. I lived in Florida for a while. Believe me, they have more wasteful activites going on besides the humble bulb. Have ye driven down their mega highways at night? Behold, the've turned night in ta day. Carbon foot print me eye. This little ditty is nonsense. How about
the bloody misery foot print?
11

bogmon,

wales 06/01/2008 22:42:03
You lot really are just a bunch of ignorant, selfish idiots.

You don't give a damn about anyone else in this world but yourselves. You sceptics do absolutely nothing to endear the North American countries to the rest of the world.
12

Mark from the usa,

Pennsylvania uSA 07/01/2008 02:38:36
I have been an electrician for many years and since they have taken mercury out of the flouresent lamps, unless you have the newer matched ballasts, they will not function. Lately I saw a warning on the newer energy saving flouresent "curlys"( thats what I call'em)about the mercury. Made me wonder why the industrial longer lamps no longer contain mercury BUT the residential do. Does this take a large liability out of the big companies insurance and puts the poison right in the consumer's home?? Whom will you sue for mecury poisoning ? your self?
13

RR7,

Seattle 07/01/2008 05:11:02
#13 Bogmon - global warming is occurring...but astronomers have determined that it's also occurring on Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and even Pluto. Welcome to the current phase of what in the not-too-distant future will be more widely known as a "long-term cataclysm cycle." Although nobody will accept this for quite some time, a few of the the Horizon Project individuals are clued in, but they do over-hype several things. The next solar cycle should be a fun one.

Perhaps we should ship some compact fluorescent bulbs to other warming planets to save them, too? Seriously, though, these CF bulbs aren't going to "save us," and neither will attempts to endear North American countries to the rest of the world. Note that nothing excuses absurd levels of wasteful living (the US being the current champion); but a wide-scale switch to CF bulbs will lead to other serious environmental problems. Discounting such additional problems would seem to imply, using your own words, that "you don't give a damn about anyone else in this world but" yourself.
14

syntax,

Edinbburgh 07/01/2008 05:15:52
"sinister about people who deliberately don't want to be Green" - what a nutter ! I don't recycle, I wont be using the new bulbs (I have cases of the 'traditional' bulbs that will last me for years.

Global warming is a reality - but man as the cause is political and green guff !!!!

Get a life. Not all of us are gullible !! The sun causes warming (not man) and no one actually knows if CO2 increase is the CAUSE or the RESULT of global warming - so, if the scientists have no idea, who the hell is going to listen to the greens and politicians ?

Personally I don't give a damn. The Chinese don't, the Indians don't and neither does the majority of the world's population. They have other things to worry about - like feeding themselves !!!!
15

Saoghal Beag,

07/01/2008 10:17:19
What's tha panic, the majority of you all have more mercury in your mouths than you are every likely to come into contact with if you are in the habit of smashing up comact flourescents in enclosed spaces. A non-story which gives the ususally ranting denialists the excuse to rant.
16

Unimpressed one,

07/01/2008 11:02:59
#17, but at least we 'rant' sense, not pure green p*sh.
17

RR7,

Seattle 07/01/2008 16:54:09
The UK Environment Agency's latest advice focuses on the 6 to 8 milligrams of toxic mercury in each bulb; users who break a bulb should vacate the room for at least 15 minutes.

* The debris should not be removed with a vacuum cleaner, which could put toxic dust into the air, but with rubber gloves.
* The broken glass and all residue is to be placed into a sealed plastic bag and TAKEN TO A LOCAL OFFICIAL RECYCLING SITE for proper disposal.

Note the extra CO2 generation associated with the need for rubber gloves, the plastic bag, and the transportation to and from an official recycling site. For individuals who suffer health problems associated with CF bulbs, transportation to and from their medical practitioners will also result in extra CO2 generation.

How many people will precisely follow the CF bulb disposal guidelines, versus conveniently tossing the bulb remnants, Mercury included, into the trash?

The estimates asserting that CF bulbs will reduce CO2 emissions by 5 million tons per year fail to account for human rationalization, such as "because I'm using an energy-saving bulb, I won't really need to make sure as many lights as possible are turned off all the time."

Do greenies actually understand the first thing about a comprehensive behaviorally-based environmental impact analysis? Apparently not; it's easier to simply apply their favorite social pressure tool by labeling everyone that questions them as evil, selfish, etc...
18

Kipling,

08/01/2008 02:48:39
The 'proper' disposal method at the recycling place in the UK is a bin into which all types of bulbs are thrown and, in some cases, invariably smashed. I don't recall seeing anything in a sealed plastic bag in the bulb bin and certainly no warning signs of the likelihood of toxic dust contamination.
19

Fairfax,

08/01/2008 18:05:30
Mark (14): "Made me wonder why the industrial longer lamps no longer contain mercury BUT the residential do."

Essentially all fluorescents contain mercury vapour, but the quantity varies greatly, from as little as 2-3 milligrams of Mercury to 50 mg (or more). You can read more about this here:

http://www.informinc.org/fact_P3fluorescentlamps.php#important

The amount of mercury in the home is therefore tiny, but a large number of fluorescents concentrated in landfill might then pose a hazard to local water supplies, since the mercury will ultimately pool at the bottom of the landfill.
20

Waspy100,

08/01/2008 22:00:03
I think I will quietly stockpile a few of the older bulbs.
Just use a lower wattage and turn lights out behind you can save money.

 

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