CFL Light Bulbs Have One Hitch
Posted by admin on September 8, 2010
The Environmental Protection Agency and some large business, including Wal-Mart, are aggressively promoting the sale of compact fluorescent light bulbs as a way to save energy and fight global warming. They want Americans to buy many millions of them over the coming years.
But the light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, and the companies and federal government have not come up with effective ways to get Americans to recycle them.
“The problem with the light bulbs is that they’ll break before they get to the landfill. They’ll break in containers, or they’ll break in a dumpster or they’ll break in the trucks. Workers may be exposed to very high levels of mercury when that happens,” says Carl A, executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America, the trade group for the people who handle trash and recycling.
Skinner says when light bulbs break near homes, they can contaminate the soil.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin, and it is especially dangerous for children and fetuses. Most exposure to mercury comes from eating fish contaminated with mercury, Some states, cities and counties have outlawed putting CFL light bulbs in the trash, but in most states the practice is legal.
By: Carl A
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