There is a danger to those who manufacture these mandated poison pills. This is worse for the people that make them than the sweat shops that make shoes, which received a lot of press for a while then fell off the radar.. We are being forced to have them in our homes as well.
Have you looked up the disposal policy in your community? Mine doesn't have facilities to dispose of this hazardous waste. They say to put it in the trash to be hauled to the land fill.
Have you read the EPA guidelines on what to do if a bulb breaks in your home (Got kids?) Scary stuff, more unintentional consequences of government intervention.
I wonder how much energy is used to produce these bulbs. Is there a real carbon savings?
One site I read stated they do not last as long as advertised. If you operate them like a normal bulb, they don't.
Mercury poisoning is happening in China and anywhere these things are used.
May 15, 2009
ReplyDeleteCompact flourescent bulbs have hazardous mercury in them. We outsource the production of these bulbs to China where they don't have our level of safety standards. The Chinese workers are being exposed to mercury and it is reported that the workers have very high levels of mercury poisioning. Is that what we want to do to the Chinese? Does it not matter since they are not 'Americans'?
Also, do the carbon-footprint calculations (savings) include the shipping of all those bulbs from China?