Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: A New Cancer Risk in Your Home

<div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have the government and General Electric lied to us? <a href="https://secure3.convio.net/aahf/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1387" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><em>Action Alert!</em></span></a></span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/regulations/eisa.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007</a> (EISA) mandates the phase-out of incandescent light bulbs, and favors energy-efficient compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs.S</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">ounds good—until you realize that CFL bulbs contain mercury, and mercury poses a significant cancer risk. </span><a href="http://commcgi.cc.stonybrook.edu/am2/publish/General_University_News_2/SBU_Study_Reveals_Harmful_Effects_of_CFL_Bulbs_to_Skin.shtml" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A new study shows</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> that CFL bulbs also emit high levels of ultraviolet radiation—specifically, UVC and UVA rays. In fact, the UV rays are so strong that they can actually burn skin and skin cells. </span><a href="http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/01/02/study-eco-friendly-light-bulbs-may-put-health-at-risk/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Experts say</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">the radiation could initiate cell death and cause skin cancer in its deadliest form—melanoma.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><img alt="skin" height="273" src="http://blog.electricitybid.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/skin.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 0px 1px 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 0px 1px 5px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 16px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="640" /></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In every bulb the researchers tested, they found that the protective phosphor coating of the light bulb was cracked, allowing dangerous UV rays to escape. Healthy skin cells exposed to CFLs showed a decrease in their proliferation rate, an increase in the production of reactive oxygen species, and a decrease in ability to contract collagen.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of that, it’s a sad fact of life that light bulbs break. How do you clean up the mercury after a bulb breaks? The Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2535642/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">measured the release of mercury vapor from broken bulbs</a>. They recorded concentrations near the bulb of up to 800 mcg/m<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>, which is eight times the average eight-hour occupational exposure limit allowed by OSHA (100 mcg/m<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>).</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even more shocking, the recommended limit for children is a mere 0.2 mcg/m<span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 0; position: relative; top: -0.5em; vertical-align: baseline;">3</span>. <span style="font-weight: 700;">A child exposed to a broken CFL bulb will receive <em>eight thousand times</em> the recommended amount of mercury vapor!</span></span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5959300518432319010" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A broken 13-watt CFL bulb will only have released 30% of its mercury a full four days after it is broken—the remainder is trapped in the bulb. So picking up shards with your bare hands or leaving them in poorly ventilated room while you ponder the best disposal method is a particularly bad idea.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, there is no good solution for cleaning up after a broken CFL bulb. Researchers at Brown are testing <a href="http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2008/06/mercurycloth08jun" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">a cloth made with a nanomaterial</a> (nanoselim) that can capture mercury emissions for proper disposal. But until this is commercially available, it is best to avoid CFLs altogether. And how will we dispose of the clean-up cloth?G</span><a href="http://www.gelighting.com/LightingWeb/na/resources/faqs/" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">eneral Electric claims</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> that CFLs don’t produce a hazardous amount of UV radiation, and that UV is far less than the amount produced by natural daylight. The truth is that all compact fluorescent lights bulbs contain mercury vapor. Once that vapor is hit with an electric current, it emits a great number of UV rays. UV rays are theoretically absorbed by the layer of phosphor that coats the bulbs—but the signature twisted spiral shape makes these bulbs more prone to cracks in the phosphor, which dramatically increases UV/mercury exposure. Researchers found </span><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/08/08/158426970/energy-efficient-lightbulbs-have-a-dark-side-when-it-comes-to-health" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">cracks in almost all bulbs purchased from retail stores</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">, indicating that it is a standard design flaw of these bulbs.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CFL bulbs contains other cancer-causing chemicals as well. <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8462626/Energy-saving-light-bulbs-contain-cancer-causing-chemicals.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">German scientists found</a> that several different chemicals and toxins were released when CFLs are turned on, including naphthalene (which has been <a href="http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/Naphthn.htm" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">linked to cancer in animals</a>) and styrene (which has been declared “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/health/11carcinogen.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">a likely human carcinogen</a>”). A sort of electrical smog develops around these lamps, which could be dangerous.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CFLs are supposedly better for the environment, but according to the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers, 98% of CFLs end up in landfills—creating a <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2535642/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">mercury build-up that can escape into our soil and waterways</a>.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’re happy that the federal government is tackling environmental problems, but this “solution” is especially short-sighted—and not unlike the <a href="http://www.anh-usa.org/allow-a-smart-meter-in-your-home-or-face-arrest/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">national smart meter push</a>, is creating serious health risks in the long-term.</span></div> <!-- Begin BidVertiser code --> <script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=579098%26bid=1449088" type="text/javascript"></script> <noscript><a href="http://www.bidvertiser.com/bdv/BidVertiser/bdv_advertiser.dbm">marketing</a></noscript> <!-- End BidVertiser code --> <a href="http://ads.cpxcenter.com/cpxcenter/s_click.php?nid=4&pid=49778&sid=51388&cid=10953&adnid=4&cuid=0oicbz9&adtype=7&ad=131917&subid=&opt1=&opt2="><img border="0" height="250" src="http://ads.cpxcenter.com/cpxcenter/cr_image.php?nid=4&pid=49778&sid=51388&cid=10953&adnid=4&cuid=0oicbz9&ad=131917&adtype=7&subid=&opt1=&opt2=" width="300" /></a> <script type='text/javascript' src='http://ads.qadserve.com/t?id=a2b34d3a-e07c-4678-a7a8-346319aafab6&size=728x90'></script> <br /> <div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Worse, soon consumers won’t have the option to buy incandescent lights—they simply won’t be available. The government hasn’t placed an outright ban on incandescent light bulbs. Section 321 of EISA mandates higher efficiency standards for general service lamps. But these standards are high enough that most commonly used incandescent bulbs just won’t meet the new requirements. <a href="http://www.lightingfacts.com/content/efficiency/summary" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">EISA will effectively eliminate</a> 40-, 60-, 75-, and 100-watt incandescent bulbs. The new efficiency levels will be <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/business/phasing-out-incandescent-light-bulb/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">in full force by 2014</a>.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even the United Nations has acknowledged the problem of mercury in CFL bulbs, and has instated a ban on <em>certain types</em> of CFLs. We won’t know the full implications of that ban until the treaty is made publically available.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The good news is that CFLs are not the only energy-efficient bulbs out there. There are also light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are mercury-free—though LEDs emit blue light, which can be disruptive to sleep, <a href="http://www.anh-usa.org/are-you-missing-one-of-the-most-vital-ingredients-in-a-healthy-lifestyle/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">as we noted</a> in our 2012 article.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><a href="http://www.anh-usa.org/compact-fluorescent-light-bulbs-a-new-cancer-risk-in-your-home/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.anh-usa.org/compact-fluorescent-light-bulbs-a-new-cancer-risk-in-your-home/</span></a></div><h1 class="entry-title" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 24px; line-height: 34px; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Electricity Saving Light Bulbs Can Cause Skin Cancer, Save Your Kids</span></h1><div> <!-- Begin BidVertiser code --> <script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://bdv.bidvertiser.com/BidVertiser.dbm?pid=579098%26bid=1449088" type="text/javascript"></script> <noscript><a href="http://www.bidvertiser.com/bdv/BidVertiser/bdv_advertiser.dbm">marketing</a></noscript> <!-- End BidVertiser code --> <a href="http://ads.cpxcenter.com/cpxcenter/s_click.php?nid=4&pid=49778&sid=51388&cid=10953&adnid=4&cuid=0oicbz9&adtype=7&ad=131917&subid=&opt1=&opt2="><img border="0" height="250" src="http://ads.cpxcenter.com/cpxcenter/cr_image.php?nid=4&pid=49778&sid=51388&cid=10953&adnid=4&cuid=0oicbz9&ad=131917&adtype=7&subid=&opt1=&opt2=" width="300" /></a> <script type='text/javascript' src='http://ads.qadserve.com/t?id=a2b34d3a-e07c-4678-a7a8-346319aafab6&size=728x90'></script> <br /> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Several scientists, led by<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miriam_Rafailovich" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Miriam Rafailovich</a> at  Garcia Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at <a href="http://www.stonybrook.edu/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="State University of New York at Stony Brook">SUNY Stony Brook</a>, did studies on many different types and brands of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs from across Long Island to determine the amount of Ultraviolet rays the bulbs put out in a home. They were disturbed just how bad the light bulbs phosphor coatings were. Without a proper coating as has already been determined it causes them to give off a significant level of Ultraviolet C and Ultraviolet A.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><img alt="broken-cfl" height="253" src="http://www.anh-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/broken-cfl-300x190.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 0px 1px 5px; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.498039) 0px 1px 5px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; height: auto; margin: 0px 0px 16px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a few studies that indicate that Ultraviolet C is the most dangerous wavelength that can cause skin cancer.</span></div><blockquote style="border-left-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.0980392); border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 2px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px 0px 16px; padding-left: 12px; position: relative;"><div style="margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Our study revealed that the response of healthy skin cells to UV emitted from CFL bulbs is consistent with damage from ultraviolet radiation,” said Rafailovich.</span></div></blockquote><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consumers should be concerned when using compact fluorescent light bulbs to save on energy because many of the bulbs out there have thin coatings that do nothing to protect you against skin cancer. You most definitely want to avoid using any UV light bulb at close range. In all scenarios where they could be used make sure there is an additional glass barrier of some kind between the bulb and your skin.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the research done by these scientists they were able to verify that healthy human skin tissue cells were damaged. There is a cell known as a fibroblast that you will find in connective tissue that creates things like collagen and keratinocytes. These cells that are epidermal layer cells were damaged by the CFL radiation.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Healthy human skin tissue cells, including fibroblasts, a type of cell found in connective tissue that produces collagen, and keratinocytes, an epidermal cell that produces keratin, were damaged by the Compact Fluorescent Light radiation.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When comparing the new CFL bulbs with that of the Old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs of the same intensity there was absolutely no damage to the cells.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now good luck getting this information out to the public. There are plenty of ego’s that have championed CFL bulbs that will not be able to say, “I was wrong”. I’m not saying don’t use them but you better have some good layer of extra glass and distance protecting you. Also, be careful where you have these things near your kids.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting skin cell damage as a young child is the easiest way to develop skin cancer later on in life and skin cancer is extremely deadly if not caught early.</span></div><div style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 16px;"><a href="http://blog.electricitybid.com/index.php/2013/01/03/electricity-saving-light-bulbs-can-cause-skin-cancer-save-your-kids/" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://blog.electricitybid.com/index.php/2013/01/03/electricity-saving-light-bulbs-can-cause-skin-cancer-save-your-kids/</span></a></div><!-- BEGIN TAG - DO NOT MODIFY --><br /> <script type="text/javascript"> //<![CDATA[ epom_key = "585a1f37f0a87ff49f68b4ff36bf96f4"; epom_channel = ""; epom_code_format = "ads"; epom_ads_host = "//www.adshost2.com"; epom_click = ""; epom_custom_params = {}; epom_width = "728"; epom_height = "90"; document.write("<script type='text\/javascript' src='"+(location.protocol == 'https:' ? 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Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs: A New Cancer Risk in Your Home

Have the government and General Electric lied to us?  Action Alert! The  Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007  (EISA) mandates the p...

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