“ECO FRIENDLY” LIGHT BULBS

There have been numerous complaints from consumers about the supposedly eco friendly light bulbs that are now sadly replacing our traditional incandescent light bulbs. Poor Thomas Edison must be surely turning in his grave! The idea originally came from the Green Party in Europe as a way to ameliorate global warming. The proponents of this fallacy were politicians rather than scientists. The ringleader was Caroline Lucas MEP who used to live next door to my home in Oxford. She is a lovely enthusiastic lady who has campaigned for animal rights. However she has made some serious scientific errors and these unhealthy light bulbs are such an example. One must note that most politicians are not qualified scientists. Once the legislation was passed in the European courts our traditional and non toxic light bulbs were consigned to the archives of oblivion. The wattages are being steadily decreased from 100 to 60 to 40 watts. Politicians always need to appear busy and productive. This may explain why the last decades have been the most legislatively active for centuries. The premise that these toxic light bulbs are good for the planet has been called into question by myself and numerous other scientists.

Firstly the CFL bulbs are full of highly toxic mercury, a fact that the general public may not be aware of. If an eco bulb breaks it is advised that you rapidly leave the room and stay outside for half an hour. This is due to highly toxic mercury vapour which damages the nervous system. One must never use a vacuum cleaner to hoover up the broken glass either as this will further vapourise the toxic mercury vapour. It is especially dangerous for pregnant women as mercury can damage the foetus. Many consumers are unaware of this fact and it is certainly not printed on the packaging. The reason for this is that we are being duped that these are eco friendly consumer products. This is a great consumer myth.

Consumers are not pleased with the lack of choice. Those with poor eyesight find it impossible to read in the evening with the very low wattage bulbs.

Furthermore, since mercury is one of the most polluting and toxic of substances there is the problem of a future stockpile of dangerous light bulbs.

The manufacturers of such light bulbs have gone into overdrive since the legislation. They have offloaded their huge surplus of dangerous light bulbs to the unsuspecting public. Boxes have been given to schools who in turn have been giving them as free gifts to pupils. As School Governor I complained about this. If a child broke their gift it would release neurotoxic mercury that has been linked to cognitive defects.

The expression as “mad as a hatter” originated from a mercury induced psychosis that used to be common in felt hat makers. In days gone by the lining of hats contained mercury and this would send the hat makers slowly on a path of insanity. The Minamata scandal was caused by mercury poisoning of fishing waters in Japan that took place over three decades(George 2001; Keibo 2001 Saito 2001). The local residents eating the fish suffered from serious ill health and neurological conditions for years before lawsuits were filed.

The fishermen wee severely affected by this potent neurotoxin that can cause kidney failure (Harada 1972). There were numerous compensation claims (Minimata Archives 2002). This high profile scandal was unfortunately not considered by the reckless and foolhardy politicians in Brussels when they banned the non toxic light bulbs. The problem is that so many politicians are pursuing a career path of power and material success. Many of the Green politicians have not an inkling about environmental issues unlike ecology loving organisations such as Greenpeace. There is a great deal of confusion between Greenpeace and the Green Party but they are in fact not the same at all.

The CFL light bulbs will pollute the world with mercury for centuries to come.

They also emit light frequencies at a different end of the spectrum from normal incandescent light bulbs. There have been studies showing that this type of unbalanced light spectrum may be linked with increased risk of leukaemia (Downing 1998). There are numerous other illnesses associated with this type of spectrum. Humans need full spectrum lighting to remain healthy. Many users of these laughably termed “eco bulbs” have experienced migraines and headaches. The epilepsy association has warned that this spectrum of lighting may trigger seizures. The energy savings allegedly made by these lights have also been proven to be negligible as they take a while to warm up.

Recently there have been attempts to improve the designs of CFL light bulbs. However the damage has already been done and consumers have been sold a dangerous myth. Countless millions of these mercury laden lights have been distributed to the unsuspecting consumer. The Greens (not to be confused with ecologists and environmentalists) realise they have made mistakes and have attempted to sweep their errors under the carpet. It is very disappointing for ecologists, including myself, who have voted for the Green Party in the past. It has been reported   recently by scientists that they also emit carcinogenic and toxic phenol gas and napthalene as, both used by NAZIS TO POISON IN CAMPS.
Green Party has scvored an own goal here.
Oxford