Shedding Light On Light

Did you know...

A can of light tuna cannot include more than .12 milligrams of mercury because it is so toxic, causing cancer, birth defects and other reproductive damage. Yet the new "CFL" (compact fluorescent lightbulbs) the government REQUIRES we use by 2012 each contain 35 times more mercury than that can of tuna! Each bulb! With 20 such bulbs in the average home, that comes to 700 times the level determined to be dangerous.

In fact, those new lightbulbs are so dangerous that the EPA has set procedures that should be used in the event you accidentally break one. For example...

1) all living things must vacate the room, open windows and air it out for at least 15 minutes (even on a sub-zero January day)

2) pieces must be placed into a glass jar with a metal lid, or in a sealed plastic bag. Vacuum the area, and place the vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag

3) any clothing that comes in contact with the broken pieces or dust from it should be thrown away, NOT washed, as washing can contaminate sewage (does the phrase "contaminate sewage" seem a bit surreal?)

4) pieces and vacuum bags should only be disposed of at a hazardous waste site

In one instance a person who broke such a bulb was told by her state EPA requiired cleanup performed by professional hazardous material cleanup contractor - at a cost of several thousand dollars.

Yet, the government, in its need for ever-increasing domination over its subjects - I mean citizens - has passed a law requiring all bulbs be of the CFL variety beginning in 2012. They REQUIRE us to risk our homes, our lives simply because they say it is better for the environment.

But the facts say just the opposite - they are far worse for the environment. The toxicity is only the tip of the iceberg, even though that, alone, will eventually result in tons of extremely toxic mercury to be released into the environment as bulbs burn out or break. But there is also the simple fact that it takes at least four times more fossil fuels to create a CFL than a regular incandescent bulb. The CFL also requires up to eight times more glass, which can only be made through excessive heat - from fossil fuels.

Then there is the fossil fuel burned when you have to drive 40 miles round trip to dispose of used bulbs at a hazardous waste site. (The average person lives 20 miles from a HW site)

And then there is the cost - each CFL costs a great deal more than its incandescent counterpart. All that extra money spent by consumers on CFL's that we really do not need will remove that much money from the consumer arena.

I have written on this subject several times over the last few years. And finally SOME people are beginning to pay attention. Unfortunately, unless enough of us (you) contact your newly elected congressmen and tell them to reverse this law as being a travesty - unless you do that, the law will take effect and we will all be at risk.

Imagine the average home with 20 of these CFL's burns down, the bulbs burst and now there is 80 milligrams of extremely toxic mercury in that area..

And heaven forbid that such a bulb should break in your home and your child becomes exposed before you even know a bulb has broken. I mention this because I recall our daughter, aged 1 1/2 accidentally knocked over a lamp and broke the bulb while we were in another room. Thank God it was not a CFL.

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