Posted on 01/04/2013 12:56:45 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Legislate in haste ... repent at leisure. In their haste to rid Americans of the unconscionable plague of perfectly safe if somewhat inefficient incandescent lighting, politicians in Washington have forced us to adopt more expensive technology in its place. Compact flourescent lighting (CFLs) are already known to be a considerable disposal risk, thanks to the mercury used in them. A new study reported earlier this week by Miami's CBS affiliate warns of an operational risk as well ... ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancers and even acute burns (via Katie Pavlich):
Every time you turn on the lights, you may be putting yourself at risk, according to a disturbing new study.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO
Energy efficient bulbs are eco-friendly and can save you big bucks, but experts say that some could also have a dark side.
Actually, they’re not all that eco-friendly, as even the government acknowledges. The EPA wants to argue that the release of mercury from CFLs in disposal is less than that released from the burning of the amount of coal one saves by using them. That may well be true overall, but not if one breaks in your house. At that point, you need to conduct an hours-long cleanup — and even if you want to dispose of an unbroken CFL, it takes special disposal in most jurisdictions due to the eco-unfriendly nature of CFLs.
And now, it takes special instructions to use them, too:
Money saving, compact fluorescent light bulbs emit high levels of ultra violet radiation, according to a new study. Research at Long Island’s Stony Brook found that the bulbs emit rays so strong that they can actually burn skin and skin cells.
“The results were that you could actually initiate cell death,” said Marcia Simon, a Professor of Dermatology.
Exposure to the bulbs could lead to premature aging and skin cancer, according to doctors.
“It can also cause skin cancer in the deadliest for, and that’s melanoma,” said Dr. Rebecca Tung.
Well, these are just the defective CFLs, right? The outsides are coated to block UV radiation. And that’s true, but …
In every bulb that researchers tested they found that the protective coating around the light creating ‘phosphor’ was cracked, allowing dangerous ultraviolet rays to escape.
So what can you do? Stay away from them:
Stony Brook researches advised that customers exercise caution and stay two feet away from the bulbs at all times, while storing them in an overhead fixture or lamp.
Gee … maybe Congress should have thought to check this out before regulating incandescents out of existence.
$700! Ouch!
Turn off the grow lights! (just kidding)
We have electric heat *plus* the usual electric household stuff and the machine shop.
Sometimes, the bill is higher than that.
[they raised our electric prices to ‘save the earth’]
Liquid mercury is absorbed very slowly. But in the environment, some bacteria methylate it and it enters the food chain, eventually getting into fish and water.
Look up Minimata Disease that happened in Japan. Methylmercury poisoning in people who ate a lot of fish from polluted rivers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease
Here’s a scary story of a woman killed by a few drops of pure methylmercury when some penetrated her latex gloves. She died less than a year later.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Wetterhahn
I heard someone state that one CFL lightbulb, if not subsidized, would cost you $25 over the counter.
We’re paying for them, of course, through our taxes.
Yes, that was mentioned in the article.......
” - - - Exposure to the bulbs could lead to premature aging and skin cancer, according to doctors.
“It can also cause skin cancer in the deadliest for, and that’s melanoma,” said Dr. Rebecca Tung. - - - “
Where is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) when yuh need ‘em?
I did the same, coating dimes and such to make them "shiny". Not much risk there, unless you lick your coins. However, flu shots contain mercury that is directly injected into your body - that has more effect on your health.
This is exactly the kind of crap that happens when government dictates technology.
Watch how fast they will remove these bulbs from the Pentagon, the Capitol Building and the White Hut and expect the populace to continue using them.
Any of you mothers willing to expose your babies to these money-saving light bulbs?
Did you ever notice old plastic cased computers turn yellow with age? Mostly on the side facing windows with exposure from sunlight. But also on the areas exposed to fluorescent lighting in offices.
I have old computers and toys in rooms with only incandescent lighting, and they don’t suffer from yellowing. Yellowing happens with the UV from fluorescent lights. Try it on the new CFL bulbs, it will quickly yellow light colored plastics. Then consider what CFLs are doing to your skin.
I once asked the butcher why they did this.
He said: "Fluorescents turn the meat grey. Makes the ham unappealing. So we turn them away from the light."
we used to play in the “crick”...just down from the dump......probably not very safe....but we’re all alive and kicking.....but we are a little weird I guess....lol
Ditto that. And drank out of garden hoses, rode in cars/truck wo/ seatbelts, had “BB gun wars” w/ 5-6 guys... somehow, we all survived. Amazing!
Mail all broken, burnt out CFL’s to your Cong - ress - Critter / Imperial Senator, in protest.
Has anyone had one of these hippie contraptions pop on them? I had one burned out the other day. When I pulled it out, there was a big hole in the glass. Ungood.
I began my stocking up on 60w bulbs today. As I was checking out at my friendly Dollar General store I could not resist telling the young black clerk that at this time next year these bulbs would not be available for sale. She asked, "Why?" I said, "People electing Democrats to Congress." No reaction, but I knew there had to be an internal one.
The Congress is so gutless that it can’t give us back the Edison lightbulb. It is so afraid of being called anti-environment that it will continue to support a POS lightbulb that doesn’t work and is dangerous.
And we expect these turds to fight the nazi Buckwheat and his coven of fat welfare mommas with cell phones stuck in their ears?
Ha!
Yes, it takes years and more than a ton of dirt to effectively handle 1 bulb. We have been stock piling these bulbs since this law was passed.
Every time a light bulb burns out now we buy 4 more packs of incadescent bulbs. They are great heat sources, and that is what some clever guy in Europe did to avoid the stupid law.
Just relabled them as heaters, not a light source. LOL At least that’s what my daughter told me.
clarification stock piling incadescents not CFL.
Just a clarification: “white” LEDs do use fluorescent phosphors to generate the wide range of colors that we perceive as “white.” The starting frequency of the “white” LEDs, however, is not red nor green, nor ultraviolet, but blue.
In general, a phosphorescent material cannot generate a color of a shorter wavelength than the impinging wavelength, so red or green LEDs cannot stimulate phosphors to generate blue light, but blue LEDs can stimulate phosphors to generate all visible frequencies of light.
Blue, or other visible light, is not dangerous at any normal intensity used for household illumination.
How this relates to “fluorescent” lights: “fluorescent” lights generate ultraviolet (UV) light (shorter wavelength than any visible light) instead of the blue light generated by LEDs. The UV light then impinges on phosphors to make visible light. This article points out that some of the UV light (dangerous at “normal” intensities) does leak out of the “fluorescent” bulbs. This is a danger not shared by household LEDs which don’t generate UV light.
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