I recently read an article which stated that the incandescent light bulb, you know, the one Thomas Edison invented in 1880, is being phased out starting next year.
By 2014, only a few specialty incandescents will be available like three-way bulbs and lights for plants and appliances.
No more simple incandescent bulbs that cast that warm, cozy glow over the pages of your book as you curl up reading each evening in your favorite chair!
The incandescent bulb is being slowly but surely rooted out by the cold, impersonal light of the compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).    There is another option, called the LED bulbs, but as of this writing are virtually unknown in American stores.
So, at least for now, this leaves us with the CFLs.
My main beef with the CFLs is not the Antarctic light they cast.  While I don’t like CFL light nearly as much as the warm glow of incandescents, I could probably get used to it after a while.   I’ve also noticed some of the newer CFL bulbs cast a much warmer glow than a few years ago.
My issue is with the small amount of mercury present in each CFL bulb not to mention the amount of dirty electricity your family is exposed to when you use fluorescent bulbs around your home.
Supporters of CFLs say that the small amount of mercury in the bulbs is less than the mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants and CFLs use a lot less electricity than incandescents thereby significantly reducing those emissions.
My take is that mercury is a neurotoxin and is not safe in any amount, certainly not in your home.   What if that adventurous toddler knocks over a lamp and breaks one on your living room carpet?
The result is not just a pile of broken glass like what would happen with an incandescent bulb. The result is exposure to a potent neurotoxin.
I don’t personally derive any level of comfort from claims that the small amount of mercury from a broken CFL would not contaminate a home or require an environmental crew to clean up the mess.  The FDA makes similar claims about dental amalgams too, but the fact is that people are experiencing toxic effects from them just the same.
CFLs Not Recycled by Most People
Another worrisome problem is that most people throw CFLs in the trash rather than recycle them despite laws against this in many areas of the country.    Not only does this potentially expose sanitation workers to high levels of mercury from multiple broken bulbs but it has the likelihood of turning our landfills into toxic waste dumps.  What’s more, CFLs that break near homes can contaminate the soil.
Adding to the problem is the lack of participation by big retailers such as Wal-Mart in assisting with the recycling effort.
Even General Electric, which has manufactured CFLs for about 20 years, says the small amount of mercury in each CFL bulb could add up to big contamination problems once incandescents are no longer available and sales of the toxic bulbs rapidly increase.
Incandescents still represent about 80% of the market for bulbs in America with CFL bulbs accounting for only 17% of sales.
It seems to me that the switch from incandescent bulbs to CFLs represents a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.   I, for one, will not be embracing the CFL trend.   I’ve got quite a stash of incandescents that should last me a good long while and when those run-out, hopefully, this new LED bulb technology will offer a decent non-toxic solution for my home.
Source
National Public Radio, CFL Bulbs Have One Hitch:Â Toxic Mercury
I hate the CFL curley-q bulbs! Every one we have tried has burned out in much less time than an incandescent! They are more expensive and the claims that they last longer have not been proven in our house. The light isn’t as nice, and they are even ugly to look at when not in use. And I am so afraid of breaking one!
I hate the CFL curley-q bulbs! Every one we have tried has burned out in much less time than an incandescent! They are more expensive and the claims that they last longer have not been proven in our house. The light isn’t as nice, and they are even ugly to look at when not in use. And I am so afraid of breaking one!
Here in Germany, we already have that. I was hoping the US would not jump on that waggon :/ CFLs are toxic, they don’t fit everywhere, they are UGLY, the light they produce is TERRIBLY ugly, and they are expensive, too. Oh, and in rooms where the light is only switched on for short periods of time they don’t even save energy (think bathroom or walk-in closets…), and they take a while until they reach their full brightness. Plus, the more you switch them on and off (like in a bathroom or hallway), the earlier they need to be replaced. LEDs migth not be toxic, but the light is terrible, too, and who can afford those?
Here in Germany, we already have that. I was hoping the US would not jump on that waggon :/ CFLs are toxic, they don’t fit everywhere, they are UGLY, the light they produce is TERRIBLY ugly, and they are expensive, too. Oh, and in rooms where the light is only switched on for short periods of time they don’t even save energy (think bathroom or walk-in closets…), and they take a while until they reach their full brightness. Plus, the more you switch them on and off (like in a bathroom or hallway), the earlier they need to be replaced. LEDs migth not be toxic, but the light is terrible, too, and who can afford those?
Fluorescent lighting is bad for health, its the red spetrum of light we need.
Now, that was supposed to happen in 2012, and they changed their mind. Are we thinking it’s actually going to happen this next year?
LEDs are atrocious and give me headaches, and CFLs have mercury contained in glass, something we already decided was a bad idea in thermometers.
OK. Worse case scenario, you don’t open a window and accidentally eat the entire light bulb:
It is roughly equivalent of eating 2 cans of tuna a week for a year.
The 5 milligrams in a typical fluorescent bulb is equivalent to the mercury you would consume eating 95 tins of tuna, the healthy fish, which has 52.7 micrograms of mercury in each small can.
If you ate the bulb 1/1000 would be adsorbed (not toxic). If you breathed the vapours it’s an 80% uptake strait to your bloodstream. 50 ug (1000 ug in a mg) per liter of blood is enough for basic mercury poisoning. A child has 1 liter of blood. 5 mg is an average there is between 1 and 20 mg in a bulb. If you consumed 95 cans of tuna in 1 day the mercury would poison you severely. That’s like saying if you smoke a pack a day of cigarettes then its ok to smoke 365 packs in one day. That’s stupid it would kill you. Or that if you ate the recommended amount of even table salt for a day but consumed the amount for a year in a day. It would also kill you. You may need a lesson on acute exposures vs cronic.
I’ve been watching this LED market for a while now. The technology keep improving… so much so that there are LED lights being used for indoor growing. It’s early yet so I expect this industry to really boom as the technology progresses.
Do a few searches and you’ll see some amazing results people are getting with these lights in terms of growing food. And it’s so much cheaper than all those energy hogging high heat grow lights of the past.
Then there’s the opposite view. I’m ok with LED lights, and started collecting them, a little bit at a time, since I learned of the regulation years ago. We’re mostly LED now and change a lot fewer light bulbs. Our home improvement stores have carried LEDs for years and the price just keeps getting better. At the moment CFLs have been relegated to garage and outdoor lights and when they go they get replaced with LEDs too.
There are more options than just being upset about incandescent bulbs. I’m far more worked up about my beloved halogen and my inability to replace it when the wiring dies.
I concur with all of the comments above. Now that I have acquired “senior citizen” status I have more eye problems and the CFL’s do not provide enough light to read with. Yes, I have four bulbs in each bathroom. Each time my local electric company sends me coupons I make notes on them and return them with my opinion. I even asked if they had an Hazmat team that would come to my house for a clean up. There should be warning signs in stores but not likely would they be read.
You can bet if they were to try and control paper towels, diapers and plastic containers there would be a bigger outrage. We all need to let our politicians know we want this law repealed.