| Grey Acumen said:
Okay, I'll toss my little eye opener into the mix. Do you realize that they have found that when those "environmentally safe" halogen light bulbs break, the surrounding area has a mercury content roughly 100x what is considered safe? Have you seen how a garbage truck works, or even a recycling truck? It doesn't matter which you do, expecting those lightbulbs to not get broken at some point is just plain foolish. When those lithium ion battery cars end up in accidents, you need a hazmat team to respond. Not only that, but have you ever noticed that early "green cars" and even a lot of the latest ones are designed to be the most uncomfortable aerodynamic thing ever? I wonder how much of their fuel efficiency is related to electricity, and how much is related to tossing out comfort and convenience in place of reducing wind resistance. But people don't think about this crap. They see something that's been labeled "good for the environment!" and they cream their pants for captain planet. It's the biggest scam in the world, except the people running it don't want money, they want CONTROL. Do you want to know how this is absolutely 100% Confirmably true? They constantly claim that there are no dissenting scientific studies. They actually are going around claiming that every scientist around teh globe has agreed that there is global warming, that it is not going to correct itself, and it is the direct fault of human action on earth. But there ARE. There are TONS of scientist, in articles all over the place pointing out that this could be a natural cycle of the earth, pointing out that it may be related to solar activity, pointing out flaws in the studies that "prove" global warming, pointing out tampering with the data and innacuracies in models used. But nope, it doesn't matter. They're obviously just big oil company chronies who are paying them off so people keep paying for gas guzzling cars. Who could possibly benefit from being able to pass all these various laws and regulations and fees in the name of environmental safety?
And when we have to spend 100x as much to make a product because it's "environmentally friendly" are we going to stick with that? Not a fat chance. Union labor drove up our cost of production, and what happened? We went to China and other 3rd world countries to make our crap, and when environmental issues hit, we're gonna turn to them even more, and we're not going to have ANY exports. Good luck with the economy then. |
"Do you realize that they have found that when those "environmentally safe" halogen light bulbs break, the surrounding area has a mercury content roughly 100x what is considered safe? Have you seen how a garbage truck works, or even a recycling truck? It doesn't matter which you do, expecting those lightbulbs to not get broken at some point is just plain foolish."
Is it true that CFLs contain mercury? Why and how much?
CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing - an average of 5 milligrams (roughly equivalent to the tip of a ball-point pen). Mercury is an essential, irreplaceable element in CFLs and is what allows the bulb to be an efficient light source. By comparison, older home thermometers contain 500 milligrams of mercury and many manual thermostats contain up to 3000 milligrams. It would take between 100 and 600 CFLs to equal those amounts.
There is currently no substitute for mercury in CFLs; however, manufacturers have taken significant steps to reduce mercury used in their fluorescent lighting products over the past decade.
Should I be concerned about using CFLs in my home or should I take any special precautions?
CFLs are safe to use in your home. No mercury is released when the bulbs are in use and they pose no danger to you or your family when used properly. However, CFLs are made of glass tubing and can break if dropped or roughly handled. Be careful when removing the lamp from its packaging, installing it, or replacing it. Always screw and unscrew the lamp by its base, and never forcefully twist the CFL into a light socket by its tubes. Used CFLs should be disposed of properly, learn how to properly dispose.
What should I do if a CFL breaks?
Because there is such a small amount of mercury in CFLs, your greatest risk if a bulb breaks is getting cut from glass shards. Research indicates that there is no immediate health risk to you or your family should a bulb break and it's cleaned up properly. You can minimize any risks by following these proper clean-up and disposal guidelines:
- Sweep up—don't vacuum—all of the glass fragments and fine particles.
- Place broken pieces in a sealed plastic bag and wipe the area with a damp paper towel to pick up any stray shards of glass or fine particles. Put the used towel in the plastic bag as well.
- If weather permits, open windows to allow the room to ventilate.
What is mercury, what are the sources of mercury emissions, and what are the risks?
Mercury is an element (Hg on the periodic table) found naturally in the environment. Mercury emissions in the air can come from both natural and man-made sources. Utility power plants (mainly coal-fired) are the primary man-made source, as mercury that naturally exists in coal is released into the air when coal is burned to make electricity. Coal-fired power generation accounts for roughly 40% of the mercury emissions in the U.S. EPA is implementing policies to reduce airborne mercury emissions. Under regulations issued in 2005, coal-fired power plants will need to reduce their emissions by 70 percent by 2018.
CFLs present an opportunity to prevent mercury emissions from entering the environment because they help to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants. A coal-fired power plant will emit 13.6 milligrams of mercury to produce electricity required to use an incandescent light bulb, compared to 3.3 milligrams for a CFL.
Even in areas without significant coal-fired power generation as part of the electricity mix (e.g., Alaska and the Pacific Northwest), there are other, equally positive environmental impacts from saving energy through the use of CFLs: reduction of nitrogen oxides (which cause smog), and prevention of substantial quantities of CO2, a greenhouse gas (which is linked to global warming), as well as other air pollutants.
Airborne mercury poses a very low risk of exposure. However, when mercury emissions deposit into lakes and oceans, they can transform into methyl mercury that builds up in fish. Fish consumption is the most common pathway for human exposure to mercury. Pregnant women and young children are most vulnerable to the effects of this type of mercury exposure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that most people are not exposed to harmful levels of mercury through fish consumption. However, the FDA and state agencies do issue public health advisories.
EPA offers additional information and resources on all sources of mercury at www.epa.gov/mercury.
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Based on the info above the energy saved which would greatly reduce the average US households energy use and directly reduce the amount of energy a utility plant needs to produce far outwieghs the tiny amount of mercury you might come in contact with IF you happen to break a bulb.
1. How many light bulbs have you broken or even seen broken in your lifetime? I can honestly say less than 20 in my 32 years.
2. There still is far more mercury released by manual thermastats and coal utility plants than these bulbs. Thus, by using only these bulbs you are actually decreasing the amount of mercury spilled into the environment.
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"When those lithium ion battery cars end up in accidents, you need a hazmat team to respond. Not only that, but have you ever noticed that early "green cars" and even a lot of the latest ones are designed to be the most uncomfortable aerodynamic thing ever? I wonder how much of their fuel efficiency is related to electricity, and how much is related to tossing out comfort and convenience in place of reducing wind resistance."
If the industry had focused on electric cars in the first place we would have normal family style electric cars by now. Tesla motors has proven that you can make an electric car that can operate in the same standards of travel that a gasoline engine car can. Once they build up their capital from a few years of selling this first car they will build and mass produce lower priced family sedans. Their current model is not different in size and scope than that of a typical high performance coupe.
As for you li battery concerns, there are already implentations of better batteries. All that is needed is to focus R&D on them to reduce cost and that will also come with mass production.
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"There are TONS of scientist, in articles all over the place pointing out that this could be a natural cycle of the earth, pointing out that it may be related to solar activity, pointing out flaws in the studies that "prove" global warming, pointing out tampering with the data and innacuracies in models used."
It could be our natural cycle, except that ice cores have given substantial proof that we are far higher in emission levels per million now than in the last million years.
Science is all theory. You will always find someone who disagrees with something initially. Hell, people still fight about evolution. However, I would put down a very large sum of money that there are more than 10x the scientists that believe that global warming is a real concern for us now and steps should be taken before it becomes painfully true that its too late.
Does this mean I think it will happen in my lifetime? No. But, I do think it is irresponsible for me to continue to act in a way that will only make things severly worse for those that come after me.
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I think some of you are too unwilling to get your hands dirty to improve something. What's the main reason why the US military is more advanced than anyone else? Money. We've spent many times more money in military R&D than anyone else. Regardless of the economic return on the research, we've spent it and that was just to give us the illusion of safety.
Now, why not put that same checkbook towards better sources of energy or at least better ways of utilizing the energy we have.
The solution is there and it is not this massive economic and lifestyle change that so many of you ignorantly blab on about.
