Unless you’ve been on Mars for the past year or two, you will have noticed that the Australian Government is phasing out ('evil') incandescent light bulbs and encouraging people to use ('friendly') compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) - the curly Cindy Brady-piggy tail fluorescent bulbs - instead.
This will supposedly save around 30 terawatt hours of electricity and 800,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2020. It is expected to save Australia around $380 million per year by 2020 and mean net savings of more than $50 per year for each household that changes all of its incandescent light bulbs to CFLs (as if we have a choice).
The bulbs are supposed to put out about three times as much light per watt used as Edison's bulb (we’ll look at that in a mo) and last about five times as long. Theoretically, you save about thirty bucks over the life of the bulb. But it’s hand-to-mouth for some and when they’re in the supermarket trying to cut this week’s grocery bill, paying more than ten bucks (instead of a dollar) for a light bulb can be hard to swallow (unless they happen to be The Amazing Jonathon).
Besides, while Edison's old-fashioned incandescent may be a villain, has anyone looked closely at its replacement?
Are CFLs really that good?
For a start, it seems CFL low-energy light bulbs are up to twenty times more expensive to produce than the standard tungsten-filament bulbs and the manufacture process for CFLs reportedly uses up to ten times the energy used in the manufacture of traditional bulbs.
Critics complain that CFL bulbs cause migraines and epilepsy episodes because they don’t give off a steady stream of light, instead, flickering fifty times a second.
Studies of school children show that cool white fluorescent lighting negatively affects children's behaviour, learning, health, hardiness and longevity.
Critics also point out that CFLs do not work well in colder temperatures nor do they work with dimmer switches.
I don’t know about you, but fluoro light highlights every wrinkle and blotch on my skin and makes me look vaguely anaemic. Stores can measure a similar effect on their stock - coloured merchandise does not sell as well under the cool white of CFLs because it simply doesn’t look as good.
And has anyone else noticed that CFLs are a nightmare to try and read by? A UNSW study found most new CFLs fail to live up to manufacturers' claims that they emit as much light as an equivalent incandescent lamp.
The big issue
But here’s the big one: disposal.
Exposure to mercury vapor is dangerous if the bulbs are broken. Mercury can affect the nervous system, damage the kidneys and liver and, in sufficient quantities, can kill.
In terms of clean up if a bulb is broken, American authorities tell people to keep pregnant women, children and pets away from the site then open windows and doors to ventilate the area for at least 15 minutes. They must then cover their hands and use stiff paper to scoop up the remains and place them into a disposable container such as a plastic food container. Using sticky tape, they should pick up the remaining residue then place the rigid container and tape into a plastic bag that can be tied off at the top. Then they are advised to place it in an outdoor rubbish bin and keep children or pets away from the site for several days.
Massachusetts even advises cutting out the section of carpet where the breakage occurred.
(Nothing to worry about really – we’ll save a few bob and a bit of electricity.)
The American Environment protection authority (EPA) acknowledges that if broken CFLs are thrown into the household rubbish, some mercury will be released into the environment. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that the CFLs will likely leech deadly compounds into the air or water. (How many of these things are Australians buying?)
Hmmm.
In Australia there is not even any legislation covering the disposal of CFLs. The Australian EPA passes the buck to the states. Tasmania’s EPA website throws up no results on a search for ‘CFLs’. Clearly, mercury poisoning is a high priority - not.
The entire country (and half the world) is hell bent on enshrining the CFL and eliminating the only real alternative.
If CFLs turn out be a complete screw up, what’ll we do? Return to candle power?
Oh, silly me. Plan B won't matter. We'll all be dead from mercury poisoning.
Image: jscreationzs
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