CFL Bulb
Posted on 07/27/2012 1:02:43 PM PDT by Blackyce
Posted 07.19.2012 at 3:42 pm
Wikimedia Commons
We know CFL bulbs are world-changingly efficient, producing the same level of light as their incandescent parents while using a quarter of the energy. But they're still a relatively new device, and few long-term studies have been carried out on them. One of the most recent, a new report from a team at Stony Brook, suggests CFLs might cause damage to skin by releasing UV rays.
Researchers rounded up CFL bulbs from two counties in New York, then measured their UV emissions and the strength of their phosphor coatings. They found cracks significant enough to release UV rays in every bulb. In a lab, they exposed healthy, in-vitro skin tissue to the rays and recorded it as "consistent with damage from ultraviolet radiation,” Miriam Rafailovich, the lead researcher, said in a statement.
That doesn't mean we need to have a mass burning of all our energy-saving lightbulbs, but the researchers suggest not using them at close distances and putting an extra glass cover around them.
Bring back the old lightbulb.
Who do I call when I accidently break one?
It's quite simple.
Just report it to your nearest EPA enforcement office, who will promptly condemn your home until it has been deemed safe. They will send in the hazmat team to gut and decontaminate the home, then once you have obtained all the required permits and made the repairs, they will allow you to move back in.
The whole process shouldn't take but six months or so, depending on the EPA's workload in your area and on how quickly you reimburse them for their work.
Mailto your Kong-gress Kritter all the CFL bulbs and mail them collect.
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| The team of Stony Brook researchers reviews the findings of their research. Pictured from left to right (standing) are Marcia Simon, Michael Hadjiargyrou, (sitting) Tatsiana Mironava and Miriam Rafailovich. The images displayed on the screen are of keratinocytes via confocal microscopy which show the results of human skin cells with and without exposure to CFL. |
“Despite their large energy savings, consumers should be careful when using compact fluorescent light bulbs,” said Professor Rafailovich. “Our research shows that it is best to avoid using them at close distances and that they are safest when placed behind an additional glass cover.”
The same thing would be true of the old fashioned fluorescent lamp, widely used in retail businesses.
On the other hand, a dusty cobwebbed factoid in my brain (the old World Book encyclopedia) says that the ordinary glass casings of ordinary fluorescent lamps, both CFL and otherwise, is largely opaque to ultraviolet light. When it is desired for a lamp to shed ultraviolet light, quartz or special glass is used. For the same reason, people indoors don’t get suntans through their windows.
Still, it ought to be looked into. Maybe there is no standard for stray UV radiation, only visible light. If there is enough stray UV in existing lamps to be a health issue to people then by all means it ought to be addressed.
Not many years ago it was a big deal, involving picking up the glass with sticky tape, never a vacuum cleaner, and airing out the area. Newer lamps will not scatter liquid mercury when broken and are safer to vacuum up. But the waste is still supposed to be treated as hazardous household waste, rather than chucked in ordinarily disposed trash cans (good luck enforcing that though).
I don’t see this as a problem unless you are sitting very, very close to the light source. The amount of radiation at a given distance from a point source varies inversely with the square of the distance. So if you double your distance from 1 ft to 2 ft, the amount of energy decreases by 4 times; three feet is 1/9 the amount of energy.
The bank. You're gonna need a loan to pay for all the government inspectors, and compliance with EPA regulations, and a crew to clean up the mess, and pay for disposal.
I take exception to some of the premises of the article. For one, they do not produce an equivalent amount of light. There is no way to get them as bright as incandescent bulbs. I dutifully changed all my bulbs to CFLs years ago, and now I am trying to find incandescent bulbs so I can change them back. The other thing, which I don’t know if they mention it or not, is the supposed long life span of CFL bulbs. I see them burning out way too often for that 10,000 hours that they are claimed to last. I haven’t broken any yet, but I do have a bunch of them in a box where I save them up to get rid of with the dead batteries and such.
Sure there is. Just use the next size up (i.e. 75W CFL equivalent for 60W Incandescent). You're still not burning anywhere near 60 watts of power. I have 150W equivalents in my kitchen a and dining areas (high ceilings).
"The other thing, which I don’t know if they mention it or not, is the supposed long life span of CFL bulbs. I see them burning out way too often for that 10,000 hours that they are claimed to last."
This depends almost completely on the source. Cheap Chinese crap won't last. GE also seems to be trash. I seem to recall that Sylvania and Osram do best, but I'm sure there are reviews on the net.
Another thing is to be aware of the "color temperature" of the CFL. Avoid the "cool white" and get "warm white". There are CFL's that virtually duplicate the spectral output of an incandescent.
I was chatting about that with the building code inspector the other day as he was checking out our bathroom remodel, and I asked him if he thought anyone actually disposes of those things properly... he said he doubts that anyone does.
Just like Obamacare the CFL was backed by lies about the need, touted by lies about the performance, and supported by lies about the safety/reliability/cost. It’s typical fascism.
Another thing is to be aware of the "color temperature" of the CFL. Avoid the "cool white" and get "warm white". There are CFL's that virtually duplicate the spectral output of an incandescent.
I guess I am so used to using 5000K lighting at work that I consider warm white to be a nasty yellow color and go for cool white or even daylight bulbs. But then most of the incandescent bulbs I have are halogens for the same reason.
That's a myth, they don't put out that much light.
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