Energy saving light bulbs 'contain cancer causing chemicals"

Run_to_da_hills

I always gathered that this was an EU back hander scam for the large corporate that manufacture these deadly CFL bulbs at the expense of those in in China that assemble them and us particularly when using them.

Next we will see a EU Directive banning them outright and coming up with some phony LED replacement. This is just further proof that those in the EU making the rules, multinationals and of course the mainstream media for putting a lid on it are all in on these scams.




Their report advises that the bulbs should not be left on for extended periods, particularly near someone’s head, as they emit poisonous materials when switched on.

Peter Braun, who carried out the tests at the Berlin's Alab Laboratory, said: “For such carcinogenic substances it is important they are kept as far away as possible from the human environment.”

The bulbs are already widely used in the UK following EU direction to phase out traditional incandescent lighting by the end of this year.'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8462626/Energy-saving-light-bulbs-contain-cancer-causing-chemicals.html

seamus

Why have you waited more than a year to break this "news"

Colour me skeptical. If you google Alab Laboratories, the only quotes you get are in relation to this publication (i.e. no other research, but perhaps this is the most high-profile one they've done), and it's almost exclusively quoted on strongly anti-CFL or anti-environmentalism sites/publications.

Are there are any objective analyses of the German publication (perhaps a copy of the paper in English), as well as any follow-up studies to confirm these results?

If this was a real concern and a legitimate study, I would be surprised that it hasn't gotten more mainstream coverage, not least from national health authorities.

Ultimately LED is the way to go as it provides the brightest instant-on light in the most efficient manner, but as it is they're still too expensive so household-level LED lighting is still 5/10 years away.

I don't really understand the love affair with the incadescent bulb. They're horrifically inefficient, pose a fire hazard, require regular replacement and fail to adequately light up a room. The only thing going for them really is that they're cheap. Otherwise they're complete muck.

zagmund

What ? Domestic LED is years away ?

I thought they were all the rage these days. We're about to get the house rewired and all the 1950s fittings replaced. So far we know the following -
1) old style (incandescent) light bulbs are inefficient. And evil. And banned by the EU for being evil & inefficient.
2) CFLs are evil because they contain dangerous things which are released when disposed of, and now apparently they contain evil things that are released when in ordinary use.
3) LEDS rock, are low energy & don't contain evil things. And they're small.

And now from what you tell me domestic LEDs aren't mainstream yet.

So, what are the lighting options for refitting a house thse days ? Candles are out because they produce too much smoke.

z

seamus

zagmund wrote: »

And now from what you tell me domestic LEDs aren't mainstream yet.

I wouldn't say they're mainstream yet, though from having a look around, ten years is a big overestimation on my part. Five years is probably the most likely timeframe where they'll start appearing on supermarket shelves for a tenner.

Just because they're not mainstream, doesn't mean you can't/shouldn't use them

Money does still talk, so it'll be hard to convince anyone to spend €20 on a single bulb no matter how much you go on about efficiency or lifetime.

djpbarry

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I always gathered that this was an EU back hander scam for the large corporate that manufacture these deadly CFL bulbs at the expense of those in in China that assemble them and us particularly when using them.

Next we will see a EU Directive banning them outright and coming up with some phony LED replacement. This is just further proof that those in the EU making the rules, multinationals and of course the mainstream media for putting a lid on it are all in on these scams.

[MOD]Careful now - you're treading dangerously close to a conspiracy theory here.[/MOD]

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Their report advises that the bulbs should not be left on for extended periods, particularly near someone’s head, as they emit poisonous materials when switched on.

At what rate are these "poisonous materials" produced by a typical CFL? If I leave a bulb on for an hour, what concentration of phenol, for example, will I find in the air surrounding the bulb?

It should be pointed out that phenol is solid at room temperature - immediate cause for scepticism in my opinion.

djpbarry

zagmund wrote: »

What ? Domestic LED is years away ?

I thought they were all the rage these days.

They're still a bit pricey for most people.

zagmund wrote: »

LEDS rock, are low energy & don't contain evil things.

Give it time. I'm sure the Telegraph or the Mail will be telling us in the not too distant future that LED is an acronym for Light Emitting Death-ray, or some such.

Run_to_da_hills

djpbarry wrote: »

[MOD]Careful now - you're treading dangerously close to a conspiracy theory here.[/MOD]
At what rate are these "poisonous materials" produced by a typical CFL? If I leave a bulb on for an hour, what concentration of phenol, for example, will I find in the air surrounding the bulb?

A number of years ago I broke a florescent bulb in my nieces bedroom when a bedside lamp fell over and I rolled on top of it. At the time I was not fully aware of the deadly contents of these bulbs. This bulb was purchased on the false pretense of being "environmentally friendly" I am sure the powers that be at the time were fully aware of their hazards but yet with held them from public by not producing the necessary government warnings. (They are quick enough to put their warnings on a packet of fags)

Why weren't the authorities handing out warnings about these bulbs when the writing was on the walls from CT sites going back to their first conception? From what I hear the mercury and other cancer causing toxins can remain in a room indefinably.

djpbarry wrote: »

It should be pointed out that phenol is solid at room temperature - immediate cause for scepticism in my opinion.

Accidental breakage particularly from kids playing around has always been my concern rather than from any omitting toxins that would occur from normal usage.

djpbarry

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

A number of years ago I broke a florescent bulb in my nieces bedroom when a bedside lamp fell over and I rolled on top of it. At the time I was not fully aware of the deadly contents of these bulbs.

Given the fact that you’re still here, I think it’s fair to say that the contents of the bulb were less than deadly.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

This bulb was purchased on the false pretense of being "environmentally friendly" I am sure the powers that be at the time were fully aware of their hazards but yet with held them from public by not producing the necessary government warnings. (They are quick enough to put their warnings on a packet of fags)

How many deaths have been linked to smoking cigarettes? How many have been linked to broken CFLs?

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

From what I hear the mercury and other cancer causing toxins can remain in a room indefinably.

I don’t believe there is any solid evidence linking mercury to cancer?

Run_to_da_hills

djpbarry wrote: »

Given the fact that you’re still here, I think it’s fair to say that the contents of the bulb were less than deadly.

I live in Dublin, the CfL got smashed in my brothers house in Ennis, if he had a carpeted floor I would have made him rip it out, fortunately it was a solid pine floor.

How long dose it take for asbestos effects to set in? I would be particularly worried for about the harmful effects of broken cfl dust on babies.

djpbarry wrote: »

How many deaths have been linked to smoking cigarettes? How many have been linked to broken CFLs?

Like radiation and lead poisoning we cannot tell the harmful effects immediately, it may longer on for years.

djpbarry wrote: »

I don’t believe there is any solid evidence linking mercury to cancer?

Time will tell and as another poster pointed out CFL could well be the asbestos of the modern home.

Apart from the toxic effects, CFL with its poor quality lighting is doing fantastic business for Specsavers with its which in turn is hitting the Irish tax payer from all those on medical cards that are eligible for free reading glasses.

djpbarry

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

How long dose it take for asbestos effects to set in?

Generally less than 20 years.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I would be particularly worried for about the harmful effects of broken cfl dust on babies.

Unless they're sleeping on a mound of ground up CFLs, there is little cause for concern.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Like radiation and lead poisoning we cannot tell the harmful effects immediately, it may longer on for years.

Fluorescent lamps have been in use for decades? They were in widespread before my parents were born!

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Time will tell and as another poster pointed out CFL could well be the asbestos of the modern home.

Contrary to popular belief, the hazards of asbestos have been known (or at least suspected) for a very long time – asbestos-related deaths were recorded as far back as the early 1900’s.

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Apart from the toxic effects, CFL with its poor quality lighting...

If a bulb is too dim you can just get a brighter one?

Gurgle

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I always gathered that this was an EU back hander scam

I only read this far, I'm sure the rest of your post was lovely.

Jester252

djpbarry wrote: »

I don’t believe there is any solid evidence linking mercury to cancer?

That may be true but it will still muck you up

seamus

Jester252 wrote: »

That may be true but it will still muck you up

Cancer is typically the result of ongoing long-term damage to cells which requires them to continually regenerate. This is why smokers get lung cancer and sun exposure causes skin cancer - in both cases the organ is being continually damaged and repaired, which increases the cancer risk.

In the case of mercury it doesn't cause this same kind of damage. Mercury poisoning inhibits the uptake of vital minerals and nutrients into certain cells and causes these cells to die. However because the mercury is still present, the cells don't recover.
This means that the effect is cumulative (more and more cells keep dying and not being replaced), and while there's probably a nominally elevated cancer risk from mercury poisoning, in reality you'll be long dead before cancer even has a chance to start.

The mercury content in a single bulb would be well below safe guidelines so there's no risk there. If you were working in a CFL factory or you managed to crash your car into a stack of pallets holding these bulbs, then you can panic.

djpbarry

Jester252 wrote: »

That may be true but it will still muck you up

I'm not denying that - mercury is toxic in sufficiently high doses. However, almost toxic all effects are at least partially reversible with treatment. Furthermore, exposure to a broken fluorescent lamp is highly unlikely to provide a sufficiently high dose to do any damage to anyone.

It's probably worth pointing out at this point that mercury is present in a variety of other devices, but nobody seems too bothered about that?

djpbarry

seamus wrote: »

If you were working in a CFL factory...

...with poor health and safety standards. I have worked with highly toxic mercury-based compounds in the past, but I'm still here and in good health as I took the necessary precautions.

ledbulb

You know that change in the lighting technology is taking place. A growing range of products using LED technology is currently available on the market. More expensive, good quality LED lamps are often placed next to cheap, low quality, unbranded products which may confuse selection process made by people.

The difference between them in terms of quality can be seen at the first glance. Despite this fact customers tend to choose cheaper product. This leads to disappointment, when "cheap" LED burns out quickly.
High quality LED lamps are effective and energy efficient light s for individual as well as commercial purposes. With high efficiency come savings in electricity bills. Innovative technology makes LED lamps far more durable than any other type of light source currently available on the market. But only good manufacturers can guarantee that by buying their LED light source customers will actually get a modern, high quality product which will give them savings as well as comfort and satisfaction.
And they don't have to be expensive.
If you looking on the lifetime and savings they are worth money you have to spend on it.