essaysfromtheedge

Those "Safe" Compact Fluorescents

Well, Al Gore finally had his moment in the Congressional Spotlight yesterday (was that an incandescent spotlight, or a fluorescent one?). Despite the glowing inaccuracies in his testimony - so rightly pointed out by Texas Rep. Joe Barton and others - Al was treated as a prophet by the Global Warming Kool-Aide drinkers on the committee.

The item from the session that got the most attention was Al's insistence on eliminating incandescent lights bulbs and replacing them with compact fluorescent bulbs. There are so many problems with this ill-conceived proposal, it's hard to pick a starting point.

When the unwashed masses hear someone like Al promote fluorescent lighting, they immediate think it is safe. Has to be, right? After all, it's a huge part of the solution to global climate catastrophe, and Al wouldn't be pushing it unless he was sure it was safe.

Well, as in his movie "An Inconvenient Truth," it turns out Al is wrong... again.

You see, fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury, a known environmental pollutant. Mercury causes death and birth defects in all species that consume it. The EPA has has an aggressive policy regarding the disposal of fluorescent bulbs due to their mercury content.

Fluorescent lamps contain mercury, an essential compound for operation that generates ultraviolet rays that react with the bulb's phosphorous coating to emit fluorescent light. Because fluorescent bulbs have been inconsistently disposed of, specific numbers on the amount discarded are unavailable. However, according to the EPA, mercury-containing bulbs account for 3.8% of all mercury now going to municipal landfills. Such bulbs continue to be a health and environmental concern. Mercury toxicity can cause impaired growth and development, reduced reproductive success, and death in humans. Mercury bioaccumulates most efficiently in the aquatic food chain, where it's converted into toxic methylmercury by bacteria. The primary pathway of exposure for humans and wildlife is by eating fish contaminated with mercury.

Source: EPA Sees the Light on Fluorescent Bulbs

Until recently, the problem of the disposal of fluorescent bulbs was limited to commercial uses - office buildings, factories, schools, government buildings, etc. Fluorescent bulbs were not widely used in homes, so addressing the matter of fluorescent mercury was a simple one.

Finalization by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of a rule that places mercury-containing fluorescent bulbs under the Universal Waste Rule, regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), will encourage recycling and proper disposal of the bulbs by making it easier and cheaper to recycle them. The rule will thus reduce the amount of hazardous waste reaching municipal landfills. Placing fluorescent bulbs under this rule will "better protect public health and the environment from mercury contamination," said EPA administrator Carol M. Browner in a 28 June 1999 EPA press release.

Source: EPA Sees the Light on Fluorescent Bulbs

So, now we're going to flood the market with consumer fluorescents. And government is going to help by outlawing the incandescent bulb.

Australia Outlaws Incandescent Light Bulb

Two years to change EU light bulbs

California may Ban Conventional Lightbulbs by 2012

These efforts seem noble on their face, but they are obviously being driven by politicos who are not fully informed on the nature of fluorescent lighting. Some are beginning to ask pertinent questions:

Is it true that compact fluorescent light bulbs contain harmful mercury?

Compact fluorescent lights contain a very small amount of mercury, significantly less than those in fever thermometers. This small amount of mercury slowly bonds with the phosphor coating on the lamp interior as the lamp ages, prohibiting its entry into the atmosphere. Even breaking a fluorescent bulb is not a significant health risk because the amount of mercury vapor released is so small that it dissipates into the air with a minimal chance of inhalation.

What is the proper way to dispose of burned-out compact fluorescent light bulbs?

Though compact fluorescent light bulbs are exempt from Environmental Protection Agency and State of Washington regulations, Tacoma Power recommends that you dispose of burned-out bulbs as you would batteries, motor oil or oil-based paint. City of Tacoma and Pierce County residents can dispose of household hazardous waste, including burned-out compact fluorescent light bulbs, at the City of Tacoma Landfill Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site.

Source: Tacoma Washing Compact Fluorescent Lights FAQ

OK. The warnings are trickling out, but they are obviously being drowned out by the hysteria of the Global Warming Fascists. How many average Americans - or, for that matter, average people everywhere - are going to take the effort to properly dispose of compact fluorescent bulbs? How many are even going to KNOW how to dispose of them?

My guess is these babies are going right in the trash with the rest of the household junk, just like the incandescent bulbs, and they are going to wind up in landfills, causing a severe environmental crises completely unrelated to climate change. The statistic "mercury-containing bulbs account for 3.8% of all mercury now going to municipal landfills" will soon be moot, and the amount of mercury in landfills will jump exponentially.

“Most people don't realize that the thermostat on their wall or the fluorescent light bulb in their lamp contain mercury,” said Tammy Crone, a task force member representing the Gallatin Local Water Quality District.

“If these consumer products wind up in the landfill, the mercury contained in them has the potential to contaminate our groundwater and drinking water resources,” she said. “We really need to encourage alternatives to mercury products and recycle available mercury appropriately.”

Source: Campaign focuses on dangers of mercury

Again, the short-sightedness of government is causing more problems than it attempts to solve. And the consequences of mercury flooding our environment are firmly established, and far more serious than the overblown consequences of the scientifically unproven theory of man-made global warming.

Yet, what will we be hearing in the foreseeable future? The dangers of fluorescent mercury?

Hardly.

EnergyAustralia says by using just one 15-watt compact fluorescent bulb instead of a 75-watt standard bulb, consumers could save about $10 a year.

In Australia lighting represents about 12 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from households, about 25 per cent of commercial sector emissions, and a quarter of the emissions associated with public and street lighting.

The Federal Government estimates replacing the old bulbs with compact fluorescents in homes could cut greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 800,000 tonnes a year in 2008-12. Australia's emissions in 2004 totalled [sic] 564.7 million tonnes.

Source: Light bulbs ban to slash emissions

[Aside: commercial sector emissions are 25 percent, but commercial building use primarily fluorescent lighting! Also, public and street lighting are halogen lights, not incandescent lights, which present their own set of issues....]

The public is truly being ill-served by the global warming fascists. We need to step back, look at the science, seriously consider all of the consequences of our proposed actions, and only then move forward. Shallow, simple-minded, feel-good "solutions" won't solve anything.

Let's not trade one set of "environmental hazards" for another one in the name of "protecting the planet."



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posted by Tomás @ 3/22/2007 09:25:00 AM