Page 69 - Spring2013

Technology as Servant

LET THERE BE DARK: TURNING OFF THE DANGERS OF CFLs
By John Moody

The modern world is a marvel. Walk into a mercury and other chemicals into soil and ground
room, turn a handle and water gushes forth, cold water.
or hot. Turn a dial and the temperature rises or The mercury released by a broken bulb (and who
falls. Flip a switch and darkness is turned to light. hasn’t broken a light bulb, especially if they have
All of this is only possible because of electricity. kids…) is a cause for real concern, especially for
For lighting, electricity led to the marvel that is parents of small children and for those in modern,
the incandescent light bulb. well-sealed homes and buildings with little air
But the bulb’s days are numbered, or so says exchange. Breaking one of these in a small closet
the government; for our own good and that of is a real catastrophe! “In the hour immediately
the planet no less. The phase-out of the higher after each breakage, the team recorded mercury
wattage incandescents (100- and 75-watt bulbs) gas concentrations near the bulb shards between
has already taken effect, destroying many Ameri- 200–800 μg/m3. For comparison, the average
can businesses in the process. Now, homes and eight-hour occupational exposure limit allowed
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businesses are flooded with a new bulb, a foreign by the Occupational Safety and Health Admin-
bulb produced in China, foreign both in terms istration is 100 μg/m3.” 1
of its provenance of production and the light it Thankfully, it does appear the amount of
produces. mercury in some CFLs is declining. Even so,
more problems with CFLs continue to be discov-
LET THERE BE DARK: ered and more lies told to consumers to justify
TURNING OFF THE DANGERS OF CFLS the laws foisting them upon us continue to be
With the demise of the incandescent light revealed.
bulb, the new dominant source of light is the
CFL (compact fluorescent lamp). Hailed as a way NOT SUCH A BRIGHT IDEA AFTER ALL
to save the planet and serious pocket change at The claims surrounding CFL performance
the same time, the bulbs were known to have in comparison to incandescent bulbs are star-
significant issues even before rollout. tling. According to Wikipedia, “Compared to
First, CFLs were and still are far more general-service incandescent lamps giving the
expensive than incandescent bulbs, currently same amount of visible light, CFLs use one-fifth
costing four times more per bulb. For specialty to one-third the electric power, and last eight to
bulbs, like those that work with dimmer switches, fifteen times longer.” Unfortunately, researchers
the cost differential is far greater still. and reporters have shown that these claims are
Breakage and disposal presented an issue at times wildly false and inflated.
as well and continue to do so, because the bulbs Let’s examine the two key parts of the above
contain mercury vapor. If someone breaks a CFL, statement, light output and bulb longevity. First,
while a HAZMAT team may be an overboard do CFLs produce the same amount of visible
reaction, cleanup is not as simple as sweep and light as traditional bulbs? The answer is no. One The very act
dispose. It is more like run, ventilate, tape and study found that an 11-watt CFL produced only of turning a
seal broken contents. 58 percent of the light of an equivalent 60W in-
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Disposal is also problematic. While recy- candescent, even after ten minutes of warm up. CFL on and
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cling programs are in place for CFL disposal, it The European Commission, responsible for the off greatly
is estimated that barely two percent of CFLs are EU’s version of the light bulb ban, has conceded reduces its
actually recycled, which means that millions of as much. Thus, a person would need two CFLs
these bulbs end up in landfills where they leach for each incandescent, diminishing their sup- lifespan.

Wise Traditions SPRING 2013 SPRING 2013 Wise Traditions 69