Fluorescent light bulbs are not good for the environment
There have been calls in Hong Kong for people to be given money to encourage them to buy compact fluorescent light bulbs.
In 2004, 13 tonnes of mercury from the disposal of fluorescent lamps alone entered the waste stream in the US. This should send a warning signal to Hong Kong. Mercury from used 'energy-saving' bulbs easily enters the food chain. Often rain simply washes mercury into water surfaces, including reservoirs, and is consumed by fish which are then eaten by humans.
While damage to health from mercury is not immediate, over time the exposure can lead to damage to the nervous, renal and respiratory systems. Even exposure to broken bulbs is linked to brain tumours, along with prostate and lung cancer. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency 10 per cent of women now have blood mercury levels of 5.8 micrograms per litre, doubling the risk of giving birth to children with mental and/or neurological problems. As for the bulbs' energy-efficiency credentials, people should read the label on the packet - the deliberately ambiguous term 'up to' is used when referring to their longevity. Reality again does not support claims of energy efficiency. These bulbs cost more to make, use more resources, and, if used for short periods of time, actually consume more electricity than traditional ones do.
Fluorescent technology does not lend itself to domestic use. If politicians are genuinely concerned about the environment, they should first adjust their own lifestyles. We should simply laugh at American, European (and now Hong Kong) politicians wearing green T-shirts, who live in the largest houses, drive the most polluting cars and fly business class, or even worse first class, around the world. These politicians are often the biggest causes of carbon emissions. Trying to get people to join in their destruction of the environment by replacing traditional light bulbs with environmentally damaging mercury ones shows the politicians care little about our health or the real causes of pollution and care more about buying the votes of an all-too-easily brainwashed electorate.
Robert Hanson, researcher, Bartlett school of the built environment, University of London
