LED lights contain lead and arsnic.

With the enviro-wackos set to outlaw incandescent bulbs in most countries soon, people are only now starting to learn of the toxic side effects of their replacements. We all know about the mercury in the CFL bulbs but, the greenies are touting LED lights as the next advance to take us away from that toxic mess.

So those LED lights must be much safer, right?

UC researchers: LED lights contain lead, arsenic

LED light bulbs are the green alternative to standard incandescent light bulbs, right?

Wrong, says a new study from UC Irvine and UC Davis that suggests those good-for-the-environment light bulbs contain lead, arsenic and a dozen other potentially toxic and hazardous substances.

“LEDs are touted as the next generation of lighting,” said Oladele Ogunseitan, the study's author and chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention. “But as we try to find better products that do not deplete energy resources or contribute to global warming, we have to be vigilant about the toxicity hazards of those marketed as replacements.”

To see what LED lights contain – small Christmas-strand LED lights, in particular – Ogunseitan and his team smashed up some bulbs and tested their contents.

They found that low-intensity red lights contained up to eight times the legally allowed level of lead in California.

In general, however, the higher-intensity, brighter bulbs had more contaminants than lower-intensity ones.

“We find the low-intensity red LEDs exhibit significant cancer and noncancer potential due to the high content of arsenic and lead,” the researchers wrote in their study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

California Watch


It seems that the more environmental problems they try to solve, the more they create.

really though, is there anything out there that DOESNT cause cancer these days? Im just waiting for it... "Researcher find that drinking water leads to testicular cancer, drink more beer"

Thatll be the 2nd best day of my life, next to the day my daughter was born...

reply to post by FortAnthem


I almost bought LED Christmas lights this last year because there was supposed to be no lead in the wiring as opposed to regular Christmas lights.

Maybe we should go back to candle light.

They must be using older LEDs... newer ones use alternatives to lead and are listed as RoHS-compliant. As for the arsenic, well, don't eat them.

Unlike CFCs, LEDs are safe and produce no electrostatic fields. Those little lights blinking on the outside of your computer case are LEDs, and so are the lighted segment displays on your microwave, your alarm clock, etc., etc., etc.

TheRedneck

One question...... did the box say" Made in China"?
two

I found some cool info I will post here.

From Light Emitting Diode Wiki

The chart at the bottom shows some basic information.
I will simplify it.


Infrared
Gallium arsenide (GaAs)
Aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs)


Red
Aluminium gallium arsenide (AlGaAs)
Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP)
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP)
Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)

Orange
Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP)
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP)
Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)

Yellow
Gallium arsenide phosphide (GaAsP)
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP)
Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)

Green
Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) / Gallium(III) nitride (GaN)
Gallium(III) phosphide (GaP)
Aluminium gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP)
Aluminium gallium phosphide (AlGaP)

Blue
Zinc selenide (ZnSe)
Indium gallium nitride (InGaN)
Silicon carbide (SiC) as substrate

Violet
Indium gallium nitride (InGaN)

UV
Diamond (235 nm)[48]
Boron nitride (215 nm)[49][50]
Aluminium nitride (AlN) (210 nm)[51]
Aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN)
Aluminium gallium indium nitride (AlGaInN)

White
Blue/UV diode with yellow phosphor


Obviously from a quick review of the sources, it becomes apparent these lights are typically composed of many toxic materials. Use caution when handling them.

Yeah don't break them open. Make sure the casing it comes in remains enclosed.

That should be the major factor in keeping yourself from getting exposed to whatever it within it.


(This is just my basic assumption as I do not know exactly). Perhaps an expert can chime in on the quality of the casings these are inside of.

Is there a bleed through effect?

reply to post by FortAnthem


It seems the more technically advanced we become the more toxic materials are used from our earths reserves. The ability to take a deadly item and use it for the advancement of our human goals I think shows how far we have to go.
But you have to remember its only bad if its crushed up and thrown into a trash dump. The gap we have is the disposal of usable material. I heard someone say that one day they will mine our trash dumps for raw materials. Your computer screen if its a CRT has about 1LB or .5 kilo of lead. your LCD has merc. and other toxic materials.

Is the problem from what they put in it; or the fact we throw it in the street after it doesn't function properly. (just b/c you put it in your trash bin. Thats still just a clean way to throw it in the street.)

reply to post by muzzleflash


I'm sure that once they get sent to a landfill, its only a matter of time before the casings are broken and all that yummy good stuff inside gets into the soil and eventually makes its way into our water systems.

But hey, at least we aren't wasting energy with those awful incandescents, right?

reply to post by FortAnthem




Chickens are fed bits of arsenic.

LEDs are not prone to breaking apart. Unlike other bulbs, they have no vacuum inside because they have no area inside; they are completely solid and encased in an epoxy shell. No special precaution is required to handle them, and there is no 'bleed-through' effect to release toxins to the environment.

Similar toxins are contained in microchips and other discrete semiconductors. They don't leak either.

TheRedneck

reply to post by FortAnthem


Christ on a bike. If you break a LED you just get two bits of broken LED.

There is no "inside". Its a solid chunk of gallium arsenide.

I've got a forty year old LED watch and guess what?

...my sodding left hand has just fallen off at the wrist!

...fiddlesticks!

Originally posted by kon1foundas
reply to post by FortAnthem

 

Chickens are fed bits of arsenic.

I see studies are showing how good that is for us too:

Geoscientists Follow Arsenic From Chicken Feed To Streambeds

What happened to the chicken when she crossed the road is less important that what happens to what she eats when it is used as fertilizer.

Organic arsenic is fed to poultry to prevent bacterial infections and improve weight gain. A little bit of arsenic is taken up by the tissue and the majority of it is excreted in urine. Poultry litter -- the wood chips, feathers, droppings, and urine from under poultry houses -- is rich in nitrogen and phosphorous, so is a logical fertilizer. But what happens to that arsenic?

Virginia Tech geoscientists are determining what happens to such feed additives when they are part of the manure applied to agricultural fields. They will present their research at the Geological Society of America national meeting in Salt Lake City Oct. 16-19.

In research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Madeline Schreiber, associate professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech, carried out field and laboratory studies to discover the fate of arsenic fed to poultry. She and her graduate students found that bacteria in the litter and in shallow subsurface soil transform organic arsenic to inorganic arsenic. Organic arsenic is not highly toxic to humans, but inorganic arsenic, with its organic component removed, is toxic.

Science Daily


Yikes!

Fannnnntastic,.
I still will prefer LEDs to the evaporating mercury bulbs.
Love the smell when they burn out,..... breath deep...
LEDs have been around a long time,..
still seem safe to me,.
Soon they will say the torch is bad ... cause it burn skin... ouch

LED lights may contain lead and arsnic, but as long as you keep them intact (and don't eat 'em :lol there shouldn't be any health risks to you as the end user. Also, a light bulb made from LED's will last several times longer then that of a standard incandescent bulb. So in the end, and assuming you dispose of it properly, you're still helping the green movement by generating less waste due to you not replacing your bulbs as often.

reply to post by TheRedneck


Hey you;

Stop trying to confuse us with facts and reasoned arguments!


I swear, guys like you take all the fun outta this place.

reply to post by FortAnthem


LEDs = bad. Check.

Chicken poop = bad. Check.

Item # 1,437,894 of those perilous things we either ingest or otherwise expose ourselves to every living moment of our lives...

Even if all of it is only half as bad a feared, it still seems like a lot.

Hard to see a favorable long term outlook with such a steady steam of one problem exchanged for another.

reply to post by TheRedneck

Originally posted by TheRedneck
LEDs are not prone to breaking apart. Unlike other bulbs, they have no vacuum inside because they have no area inside; they are completely solid and encased in an epoxy shell. No special precaution is required to handle them, and there is no 'bleed-through' effect to release toxins to the environment.

Similar toxins are contained in microchips and other discrete semiconductors. They don't leak either.

But with billions or trillions of these things lying around over time, I wouldn't be so sure.

If you want to ban arsenic altogether then ban gold mining as it is nearly always found with it.

While the toxins are coming out of the natural environment why not use them for things we need and prevent it getting dumped back into a slurry pit?

I've been using LEDs for decades in various devices and projects never once have I broke one nor have I seen one fail ever through regular use!!! I did, however, use one as a fuse before in an experiment. Yep, blew it at nearly quadruple its rated requirements. You have far better odds in exposure to toxins by sitting down and watching an old cathode ray tube based television.

As for the LED itself, it is a sealed, solid plastic bulb with no vacuum or pressure. In fact that would probably be the best way to store such material!

CFLs are satan. There's no such thing as a safe CFL.

Originally posted by Frontkjemper

So in the end, and assuming you dispose of it properly, you're still helping the green movement by generating less waste due to you not replacing your bulbs as often.

Let's get real, who really disposes of this stuff properly? Heck, how do you even find out the proper procedure for getting rid of stuff like this?

It won't be long before every little thing we have in our homes requires some special process in order to dispose of it.