The k2p blog

I miss my incandescent light bulbs.

Low energy lamps have been touted as being environmentally friendly and Europe has virtually banned all incandescent light bulbs in favour of low energy lamps. But I do wonder who benefits most by this inane ban forced through by CFL manufacturers, politically correct bureaucrats and supine politicians.

But a new study in Sweden shows that the environmental benefits of compact fluorescent lamps are a myth and that mercury from some 200,000 CFL’s is being discharged directly into the surroundings every year.

Svenska Dagbladet reports (freely translated):

…. In 2009 Sweden introduced a total ban on mercury but compact fluorescent lamps (CFL’s) were excluded. Inhalation of  mercury contained in lamps can, at worst, damage the brain and kidneys. Insomnia, irritability and personality changes are some examples of what can result after prolonged exposure. ....

“One  must be terribly careful with mercury and certainly not inhale it under any circumstances”, says Jörn Nielsen, Chief of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Lund University. The Division has studied companies that work with recycling of fluorescent lamps. Several of the employees surveyed were approaching levels of mercury “poisoning”.

A study by the glass recycling industry has shown that upto 200,000 CFL’s of one million light bulbs are discarded every year and the mercury in the CFL’s is discharged directly to the surroundings. Workers in the recycling industry face an unknown and unquantified hazard and this mercury is poisoning the environment.

” It is a little remarkable that they have allowed mercury in low energy lamps. We have classified mercury as a very, very dangerous poison. Even the mercury that existed in thermometers has now all been collected and stored safely” says Ulf Skyllberg, Professor of soil chemistry at the SwedishUniversity of Agricultural Sciences. … 

The argument for the EU ban on incandescent light bulbs was that energy-efficient light bulbs would have significant environmental benefits. But the price being paid for these environmental benefits is being questioned by different groups.“The environmental benefit we are talking about here is really a political advantage. In this perspective the environmental benefits we speak of become rather an expression of a symbolic climate policy that benefits neither the environment or human health”, says Minna Gillberg, environmental expert and former advisor to Margot Wallström during her time as the EU’s environment commissioner.

Tags: Compact fluorescent lamp, discharge of mercury to the environment, Incandescent light bulb, mercury in CFL's

This entry was posted on November 21, 2011 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Alarmism, Energy, Ethics, European Union, scientific misconduct, Sweden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.