Counting the Cost of Green Evangelism: United Kingdom Issues Warning on Toxic CFL Bulbs

Briton’s Environmental Agency has issued guidelines for what to do in an emergency arising from exposure to toxic mercury. This threat is deemed immanent due to British environmental laws forcing the replacement of tungsten bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs, or CFL’s, by 2014.¹ Exposure could result when a CFL is broken, releasing 6 to 8 micrograms of mercury.

Mercury exposure from CLF’s will pose a risk to existing medical conditions such as skin and repertory ailments, and can also cause migraine headaches. Health officials are concerned over mercury because repeated and long-term exposure can cause damage to the nervous system, the kidneys, and eventually result in birth defects. A level considered hazardous starts at about 2.8 micrograms in blood test results (2.8 ug/dL).²

This warning from across the pond is of interest to Americans where similar legislation enacted last month virtually replaces the incandescent light bulb with CFL’s in all American households by 2020.

Interestingly, a study published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons in 2006 showed that an increase in mercury-containing vaccines administered in the 1990′s increased neurological disorders in children, including autism which “skyrocketed.”³

Precautions to mercury toxicity include evacuating a broken CFL site for at least 15 minutes, using rubber gloves and sealable plastic bags for cleanup, and avoiding any activity that might contribute to the toxin remaining airborne, such as using a vacuum cleaner. After cleanup, all residues must be taken to an official recycling station.

The mandated death to the incandescent bulb is another example of how Environmentalists continue to profit by the Global Warming message of doom at the expense of the public’s health. The cost of special handling for disposed CFL’s in Briton currently hovers at $1,300 per recycling bin.

Notes:

^1. WorldNetDaily, January 8, 2008.

^2. New Jersey Department of Health

^3. WorldNetDaily, March 3, 2006.