(Originally published January 2013)
BOTTOM LINE!
In every bulb that researchers tested they found that the protective coating around the light creating ‘phosphor’ was cracked, allowing dangerous ultraviolet rays to escape.
UPDATE: Phasing out the rest, via Breitbart.
Another example of those thinking they are helping mankind through legislation, and then walla, they hurt that which they profess to help. When the government mandated these bulbs replace old bulbs manufacturing plants shut down, and many of these new production of CFLs went to China. Now that this law has been overturned (thank you Republicans) it is too late as far as job loss and health risks. which brings to mind a favored quote of mine:
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals. (C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock)
Could Compact Fluorescent Bulbs Pose Skin Cancer Risk? Tiny flaws in all brands tested allowed emission of harmful UV rays, study found
FRIDAY, August 3 (HealthDay News) — As the United States bakes under the summer sun, dermatologists often warn of cancer risks posed by ultraviolet (UV) sunlight. But research now points to a new and ubiquitous indoor source of these harmful rays: eco-friendly compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Scientists say they found widespread chipping or cracking in the phosphor surface coating of nearly all the compact fluorescent bulbs they examined, allowing UV rays to escape.
Most of the bulbs “have cracks in the phosphor coating, probably due to the fact that the coating is brittle and has trouble making the tight bends required to make these bulbs compact,” explained study lead author Miriam Rafailovich, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y. “As a result, we observed, by eye, defects in nearly all the bulbs that we studied.”
And, Rafailovich added that, “skin cells exposed to [compact fluorescent light] emissions showed the same damage as those exposed to UV light” when placed in close range (meaning less than one foot) to a CFL bulb.
The study is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and is published in a recent issue of the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology.
Via Hot Air:
Legislate in haste … repent at leisure. In their haste to rid Americans of the unconscionable plague of perfectly safe if somewhat inefficient incandescent lighting, politicians in Washington have forced us to adopt more expensive technology in its place. Compact flourescent lighting (CFLs) are already known to be a considerable disposal risk, thanks to the mercury used in them. A new study reported earlier this week by Miami’s CBS affiliate warns of an operational risk as well — ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancers and even acute burns (via Katie Pavlich).
Every time you turn on the lights, you may be putting yourself at risk, according to a disturbing new study.
Energy efficient bulbs are eco-friendly and can save you big bucks, but experts say that some could also have a dark side.
Actually, they’re not all that eco-friendly, as even the government acknowledges. The EPA wants to argue that the release of mercury from CFLs in disposal is less than that released from the burning of the amount of coal one saves by using them. That may well be true overall, but not if one breaks in your house. At that point, you need to conduct an hours-long cleanup — and even if you want to dispose of an unbroken CFL, it takes special disposal in most jurisdictions due to the eco-unfriendly nature of CFLs.
And now, it takes special instructions to use them, too:
Money saving, compact fluorescent light bulbs emit high levels of ultra violet radiation, according to a new study. Research at Long Island’s Stony Brook found that the bulbs emit rays so strong that they can actually burn skin and skin cells.
“The results were that you could actually initiate cell death,” said Marcia Simon, a Professor of Dermatology.
Exposure to the bulbs could lead to premature aging and skin cancer, according to doctors.
“It can also cause skin cancer in the deadliest for, and that’s melanoma,” said Dr. Rebecca Tung.
Well, these are just the defective CFLs, right? The outsides are coated to block UV radiation. And that’s true, but…
In every bulb that researchers tested they found that the protective coating around the light creating ‘phosphor’ was cracked, allowing dangerous ultraviolet rays to escape.