Eco-friendly Light Bulbs ContainToxic Chemicals

from ChaoticFate.com by qew

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By VC | April 11th, 2011 | Category: Latest News | 37 comments

Did you hear somewhere that these new, eco-friendly, compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) were the best thing that ever happened in the world of light bulbs? That they can outlast 12 regular light bulbs? That they’ll make you save tens of thousands of dollars by switching to them? That those who did not switch to CFL did not care about the planet (and are therefore eco-terrorist)? Well, I hope you did not fall for this crap. Since 2007, numerous studies proved that CFLs  contained dangerous amounts of mercury which, as seen in the VC article entitled Dumbing Down Society Part 2: Mercury in Foods and Vaccines, caused brain neuron degeneration. In other words, it makes you dumber. When these bulbs break (which often happens when thrown in the garbage), the mercury contained within is released.

Other recent studies proved an another type of eco-friendly bulb, the LED’s (used in new generation Christmas lights) also contained high levels of toxic chemicals. Here’s an article fromNatural News on the subject.

Though the notion now borders on political incorrectness among many environmentalists, the simple incandescent light bulb is still the cleanest, most non-toxic form of consumer lighting available. A new study published by the University of California – Irvine (UCI) has found that popular energy-saving LED light bulbs are filled with high levels of lead, arsenic, and various other toxic chemicals.

Much like hazardous compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), which numerous investigations have shown contain dangerously high levels of mercury that damage human health and pollute the environment, the LED bulbs used in things like Christmas lights, traffic signals, and vehicle headlights, may be just as bad.

Oladele Ogunseitan, professor of public health and social ecology at UCI and lead author of the new study, and his team, crushed a variety of different LED bulbs to expose their internal chemicals. They then simulated an acid-rain scenario to see how the chemicals in the bulbs would react, and what the resulting liquid would be composed of.

They found that high-intensity red LED bulbs contained the highest levels of arsenic, a toxic element that damages cells and leads to cardiovascular problems, among other things. And low-intensity red LED bulbs were found to have the highest levels of lead, a toxic heavy metal that damages bones, the heart, intestines, kidneys, and the reproductive and nervous systems. White bulbs had high level of nickel, another potentially damaging metal that can cause skin problems.

In a landfill situation, broken LED bulbs can contaminate ground water supplies, rivers, streams, and lakes. In individual homes, the breakage of such bulbs is similar to CFLs in that careful cleanup is necessary as the residue is highly toxic. And even when taking precautions, bulb fumes and their corresponding chemicals can get into carpet and other hard-to-clean places, exposing young children to untold levels of such toxins over long periods of time.

Employees at Nu-life Industries wear a hazmat suit when breaking CFL bulbs to protect them from mercury poisoning. January 20, 2011.