Lights go out as Britain bids farewell to the traditional bulb despite health fears about eco-bulbs

Lights go out as Britain bids farewell to the traditional bulb despite health fears about eco-bulbs

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It a bit of a strange one this. A bit sad really, like the end of a era, well it is i suppose. I had no idea they were stopping production, i think they should have alerted people to the bans a little better though, 60w to begin to be phased out next year with a total ban by 2012. It will be interesting to find anything in those claims about skin rashes and epilepsy, being an epileptic myself. Personally i think fibre optics and L.E.D's are the future of 'Lighting'. Economical and can be very ambientic (if thats a word). I wonder if there is any medical issues with those either.

Wel there goes that ceiling light i was going to buy, no good if you cant get the bulbs. Another thing, Dimmer switches, cant find an dimmer switch compatible eco bulb anywhere - and i've looked!



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[edit on 5-1-2009 by MCoG1980]

When I read recently how toxic those "eco" bulbs are, I decided I am gathering up all of mine and taking them to the toxic waste dump. I'm terrified I will accidentally break one.

Is forcing us to use these eco bulbs part of the over-all depopulation plan?

If we can't get 'em one way, by God we'll poison 'em with mercury!

I think we are due in 4 years to be done with the incandescent bulb here in the USA. I will either stock up before that time or come up with another source of lighting.

Fluorescent bulbs are unhealthy - FULL STOP! One of the many reasons why people get sick in the workplace and now they want them in your homes so your health can be assaulted by them 24/7? What ever happened to choice? Like - I choose not to be ill? Go figure!

Surely that's confirmation that our countries policy makers are the dimmest bulbs in the box!

*Shakes Head & Rolls Eyes*

I'm stocking up as of this week!

IRM

The last large open plan office I worked in gave me raging headaches due to the fluorescent lighting used. At times, particularly toward the end of the day, and during winter I could see area on the other side of the floor flickering between light and dark.

I'll take LEDs over those things anyday

I understand the possible energy consumption arguments re energy saving bulbs BUT this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Many many people are not aware that the bulbs contain mercury and have to be disposed of properly

Each bulb only contains a small amount of mercury - (the fifth of that in a watch battery / 100th of that in a household thermometer) but by next year there will be at least 60 million of them in the UK.

Without proper warnings / education many will end up on land fill sites - leeching into soils / water supply - killing wildlife

Consider that the mercury content of ONE bulb can pollute over five thousand litres of drinking water beyond safe drinking levels.
Add that to the fluoride - what chance have we got!!

On top of this, they emit short wave ultra violet radiation - the same that produces skin damage from the suns rays (cancer causing) - they have studied this - but say the effects are negligable - but have they tested for those of us who are under them 18 hours per day for years? - I bet not

Also flourescent bulbs produce large amounts of positive ions - which make us ill in so many ways.

Imposition of this product by the nanny state is wrong wrong wrong - there are far better alternatives to these things - probably too expensive and hey, its only the health of the public at stake.

reply to post by MCoG1980

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The panic buying for the last 100 watt lightbulbs has begun:


www.telegraph.co.uk...

This is the first i've heard of this. I'll be taking out my ecobulbs tonight I think i've still got afew packets of 100wt bulbs

I hate this goverment

One of these eco bulbs was dropped on the bar of a pub I was in, the bar maid had taken it out cos the old guys were talking about them and she wanted to pass it around to show they don't actually get very hot... She dropped it when putting it in - it bounced! thank god, I piped up and said if that had broken we would be best to leave the bar for at least 30 mins (it is a very small pub 2 rooms) and really clean it up properly... The old guys were along the lines of 'I'm not wasting valuable drinking time - We'll get whatever cancers are coming to us'

If it had broke I would of said see ya! And moved on to another pub...

reply to post by MCoG1980

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Have you acually looked at the state of the colour of the new bulbs.

Forget poison worries etc, it makes your home look the colour of a prison cell.

Grey and cold. Not to mention headaches from the flickering.

Its hideous.

Ive often wondered though, would this not effect epilepsy sufferers because of the flickering??

Its going to be interesting to see if Downing Street has bulbs like this.

[edit on 7-1-2009 by XXXN3O]

These bulbs aren't manufactured in the UK, USA, Canada or Europe.

They are made in China.

Give your money to China - Where incandescent bulbs are still legal.

The governments should do a better job of educating the people on the new technology. I own an electrical contracting firm that specializes in green energy and I have been specializing in this field since 1989. The bulbs (lamps) that flicker use old magnetic ballast technology. The newer and better ones are electronic which operate at 25,000+ Hz. The flicker is undetectible to the human eye and prevents epilepsy seizures in persons otherwise affected by fluorescent lighting. There are dimmers that work with them but you must make sure you purchase a dimmable bulb. Not all of them are. The amount of mercury in them is so minute. It is much less than a 4 foot bulb in an office environment. These bulbs have been placed in landfills by the millions for many years. The mercury has leached into the water table from the landfills. Many businesses and municipalities have set up sites where you can bring your compact fluorescent bulbs to be recycled for free. The entire expectation of this technology is to reduce the power consumption in our countries, thus eliminating millions of tons of horrible emissions into the air that would affect us much more than a bulb break in the home and preventing the need for additional power plants that will emit more harmful gases. All that needs to be done if you break one is to vacuum up the area, dispose of the vacuum bag and replace it with a new one.

I can tell you as a child, we used to break mercury thermometers and play with the mercury on the floor. It was alot of fun seeing how it would move around. I am now 43 years old and am not dead yet so it cannot be all that toxic (unless ingested) even in the large amounts we played with.

Also, to address the horrid color, if you are trying to duplicate the color of an incandescent bulb in your home, you must make sure you are purchasing a bulb that is 2700K color temperature. That is the color of incandescent lighting on the color spectrum.

All of this may seem extreme, however the recent growth in China has lead to rapid growth in the industrial markets forcing a need for more power. This has caused 100% of their rivers to become polluted and 60% of them to be hazardous for humans to enter. They also have over 600,000 people per year dying from just breathing the polluted air. We have to take the necessary measures now to prevent this.

As far as LED's go, they are good. Their color is improving. Their use is still somewhat limited and they have a driver (or power supply to operate). All of this makes it expensive for a homeowner to purchase. Here in the US, most homeowners complained about the cost of the compact fluorescent solutions. The LED would be about 15 times that so I doubt most people would convert right now. But with all things, as technology ages and improves, the cost goes down. We may all have LED's in our homes int he future.

Good luck to all. I hope I have helped to ease your fears even if just slightly.

Regina