Daily Dose with William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
Filling your home with mercury
If you've fallen for the compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulb scam, you're the one getting screwed -- in more ways than one.
Not only are these things expensive and dim, they're also dangerous. A reader named Ken wrote in to say that these bulbs did a number on him.
"I think the new CFL light bulbs are death," he wrote. "I am extremely angry at them for allowing them to be sold without a warning on the box!!"
Allowing? Heck, Ken -- they're MANDATING it. CFLs are the law of land, passed by those dim bulbs in Congress. Starting in 2012, America's beacon of freedom is going to be a mercury-laden death ray -- and that light will be shining on YOU.
There's emerging evidence that these bulbs can cause seizures and dizziness, worsen migraine headaches and send lupus patients doubling over in agony. They've been linked to skin disorders and even cancer.
I can only wonder what else they'll discover when hundreds of millions of people are forced to sit under these bulbs all day, every day... at home, at work, and everywhere in between.
Even worse, CFL bulbs are filled with mercury. They'll tell you it's a "tiny" amount, but a single bulb contains enough mercury to contaminate 6,000 gallons of water.
Does that sound safe to you?
Let me shine a little light in this one: Small amounts of mercury can lay waste to your central nervous system, and all it takes is a whiff, taste or touch. Mercury can damage your vision, ruin your speech, wreck your hearing, turn you into a herky-jerky spastic, and give you the rash of a lifetime.
Ever hear the phrase "mad as a hatter?" It's because hatters worked with mercury -- and it literally drove them nuts.
And when the greenies get their way, we'll all be mad hatters. After all, light bulbs break -- and it's just a matter of time before you and your family are exposed to mercury from a shattered CFL bulb.
All that, and I haven't even touched on what's going to happen when all the mercury from discarded and "recycled" bulbs seeps into the ground and ends up in the already-filthy water supply.
I'm no fan of ordinary incandescent lights, either -- I'm convinced they're responsible for poor health and cataracts. But in this case it's a lesser of two evils. And if you hope to keep using them, you'd better stock up now.
Soon, you won't have a choice.
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Kiddie juice loaded with lead
OK, so the supposedly earth-friendly CFL light bulbs are packed with poisonous mercury... and now, get this: Your kids and grandkids are sucking back lead like there's no tomorrow.
It ain't just toys and trinkets anymore... a new study finds that some of today's most popular juices, packaged fruits and even baby foods are filled with enough lead to cripple Superman.
The Environmental Law Foundation sent 146 fruit and juice products to an EPA-certified lab, which found lead in 85 percent of them. Didn't matter if it was supermarket swampwater or organic hippie juice -- the lead levels were so high that they should have had warning labels under California law.
If you're like me, you're more than a little tired of all the warning labels out there... but when it comes to lead, those labels were made the old-fashioned way: They earned them.
Lead can stunt the growth of a still-developing nervous system. It can lead to jumpiness, mental disorders and downright stupidity -- and for once, it's not the kid's fault.
Lead exposure can also cause permanent brain damage and even death -- but go ahead, have another sip. It says it's organic -- so it must be safe, right?
WRONG!
High lead levels were found in organic brands such as Earth's Best, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods' 365 Organic Everyday Value. Do yourself a favor and take a look at the full list here.
If any of this stuff is in your fridge, toss it now.
Toss the rest of it, too. Juice -- even the "pure" stuff -- is little more than a sugar injection anyway, and anyone who slurps that junk all day is bound to have serious health problems sooner or later.
Leading the way away from lead,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
Actually, incandescent bulbs ultimately result in greater mercury exposure than CFLs because they consume much more power and require more power generation—because mercury is a byproduct of burning coal, coal-fired power plants are a larger source of mercury pollution than the mercury content in the CFLs.
ReplyDeleteAs stated in this post, CFLs and fluorescent lamps do contain mercury and, upon breaking, these fragile lights emit mercury vapor that can be a hazardous threat to not only our environment but also to people that handle these fragile bulbs. Read more about the origins of the phrase “mad as a hatter” at vaporlok.blogspot.com/2010/06/origins-of-phrase-mad-as-hatter.html.
However, CFLs and fluorescent lamps can be efficient energy saving solutions if they are safely recycled. They should be stored and transported to recycling facilities in a package that is proven to effectively contain mercury vapor. To find out about safe packages for used fluorescent lights visit vaporlok.blogspot.com.