Lawmakers Push U.S. to Adopt More Energy Efficient Light Bulbs

Written by geri
Saturday, 22 September 2007

"It's a bright idea: Get one of the Senate's biggest skeptics of the causes of global warming to co-sponsor legislation that encourages conservation. The US Senate may pass a bill to phase out old-style light bulbs and require their replacement with more energy-efficient ones (like these), as bi-partisan support builds..."

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Read the Full Article (use the left/right arrows at the top of the column to move from page to page...3 in all.
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Unfortunately there is a dark side to these bulbs...


THE DARK SIDE OF ENERGY-EFFICIENT LIGHT BULBS - Mercury in CFLs raises concerns

Michael Scott
mscott@plaind.com
Plain Dealer Reporter

The bright, white light cast from increasingly popular fluorescent bulbs also throws a surprisingly dim environmental shadow.

So today, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency officials will meet with local solid waste district leaders to push their plan to keep flourescent bulbs out of landfills.

Their concern: up to 40 milligrams of toxic mercury found in each of tens of thousands of flourescent tubes thrown away by Ohio business and industry. Mercury, the catalyst that makes the bulbs glow, is also a neurtoxin linked to brain, liver and kidney damage.

But the environmental apprehension doesn't end there: There's also some mercury in the newer, smaller compact flourescent lights.

CFLs - those usually swirly topped, screwed-in bulbs that sell for as much as $14 but promise a lifespan of four years or more- are a hot environmental commodity.

They're promoted by environmental groups as a way to reduce pollution and by retail giants like Wal-Mart, which has said it hopes to sell 100 million CFLs this year.

In fact, the highly efficient flourescents remain highly recommended by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency over electricity-drainging incandescents.

But mercury concerns are rising.

Although an individual CFL may contain as little as 4 milligrams of mercury - one tenth of the amount in the commercial lenght tubes - there are a lot of them out there.

Compact flourescents were introduced to the United States in 1898 up about 7 percent of the market with millions a year coming from China alone.

That bugs Cleveland artist and activist Ray Tapajna.
" Once I found out about the mercury and that 90 percent are made in China - and who knows what kind of pollution controls are in place over there? - I opposed them," Tapajna said.

State and county officials said millions of the mercury bulbs someday landing in landfills would pose a serious problem but the collection and recycling efforts are coming along.

"It's on everybody's radar screen," said Cuyahoga County Solid Waste Director Pat Holland. "Even though righ now, we're worrying more about six-footers from businesses than smaller bulbs from individuals.

EPA officials today will encourage waste-disrict leaders to provide better ways for flourescent users to recycle.

"Right now we're trying to get trade associations to be aware of the hazards," said Helen Miller of the EPA's Division of Solid Waste. "The volume used by households is not there yet, but it could be someday."

For now, Holland said, a homeowner who tosses a CFL in the trash doesn't even face a fine.

At the same time, consumers are warned not to breathe the dust from broken flourescent because of the mercury.

The EPA recommends cleaning up a broken CFL with a broom or wet cloth - not a cacuum - and placing the broken bulb in a plastic bag before disposing it.

Officials at TCP Inc, an Aurora company that expects to be churning out 1 million CFLs a day sometime this year, recommends Internet sites earth911.org or lamprecycle.org to locate the nearest recycling center. Consumers can call 1-800-CLEAN-UP.

Holland said the Cuyahoga district will accept the CFLs at May 12 collection and other Northeast Ohio counties also ave at least one collection day each year.

Lorain County Solid Waste Disrict Director Dan Billman said residents fill a semitrailer truck with flourescens every few months. The district has collected 87,000 bulbs since March 2005.

"We're probably the most agressive county in the state, and I think we've shown that there are a lot of flourescents out there," said Billman.

The rise of CFL - and the environmental concerns - have gone unnoticed by other bulb manufacturers.

Royal Phillips Electronics earlier this year rolled out a new CFLs with an industry-low mercury content below 2 mg. General Electric, meanwhile, has said that by 2010 it will offer incandescent bulbs twice as efficient as those sold today and for times as efficient by 2012.

Even with concerns that CFLs are mostly manufactured overseas, theat they sometimes don't meet longevity claims, that many won't work with a dimmer switch and that some still emit a cool, bluish light, the bulbs still are promoted heavily by environmental groups.

"We're very gung-ho for CFLs," said Jack Shaner of the Ohio Environmental Council. "We want people to keep on buying them and using themand learn about safe disposal practices."

Saner and others arque that CFLs prevent more mercury from being released into the air by power plants because they are more efficient.

A power plant emits about 10 mg of mercury to produce the electricity needed to run an incandescent bulb, compared with only 2.4 of mercury to run a CFL for the same amount of time.

Michael Scott
Plain Dealer Reporter
mscott@plaind.com