For Deadrat: Thanks for the Democratically voted on poison.
- From: grey_ghost471-newsgroups@xxxxxxxxx (Gray Ghost)
- Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:47:43 -0500
This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which
follows.
To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?
pageId=72133
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
ANOTHER BRIGHT IDEA
WorldNetDaily
Break a CFL lightbulb, get 300 times contamination limit
Poisonous vapor so bad, researchers recommend families no longer use CFLs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
Posted: August 11, 2008
9:55 pm Eastern
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
WorldNetDaily
Compact fluorescent light bulbs have long been known to contain poisonous
liquid mercury, but a study released earlier this year shows the level of
mercury vapor released from broken bulbs skyrockets past accepted safety
levels.
Following a story reported by WND last year about a Maine woman quoted $2,000
for cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb, or CFL, in her home, the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection studied the dangers of broken CFLs and
the adequacy of recommended cleanup procedures.
The results were stunning: Breaking a single compact fluorescent bulb on the
floor can spike mercury vapor levels in a room ? particularly at a child's
height ? to over 300 times the EPA's standard accepted safety level.
Furthermore, for days after a CFL has been broken, vacuuming or simply
crawling across a carpeted floor where the bulb was broken can cause mercury
vapor levels to shoot back upwards of 100 times the accepted level of safety.
Following the study, the Maine DEP made eight new recommendations for usage
and cleanup of CFLs, including the recommendation to not even use the bulbs
in carpeted rooms where children, infants or pregnant women live. The
likelihood of breakage, near impossibility of cleanup and risk of prolonged
exposure, the study concluded, are just too great.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website acknowledges
that Brown University published a similar study last month confirming the
Maine results: Breaking a fluorescent bulb sends mercury vapor levels to
unsafe levels for the elderly, pregnant and young ? and those levels remain
elevated for days.
The NIEHS website states, "Today?s CFLs underscore mercury's volatile vapor
form, which is still a significant health concern ? ventilation reduces but
does not eliminate this toxicant. Mercury vapor inhalation can cause
significant neural damage in developing fetuses and children."
(Story continues below)
According to a Mercury Policy Project overview paper, unpolluted air contains
one to two nanograms, or billionths of a gram, of mercury vapor per cubic
meter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a level of
300 ng/m3 as the safety threshold for prolonged exposure to the poisonous
gas.
Some states, though not the federal government, have also established a
safety threshold for a one-time, acute exposure to mercury vapor. California,
for example, has established that any level of exposure over 1,800 ng/m3 has
potentially harmful health effects.
The Maine study, however, discovered that upon breakage of a CFL, mercury
vapors can rise "with short excursions over 25,000 ng/m3, sometimes over
50,000 ng/m3, and possibly over 100,000 ng/m3 from the breakage of a single
compact fluorescent lamp."
In other words, the study found breaking a single bulb can send mercury vapor
levels in a room to over 50 times the level that California considers
dangerous and to over 300 times what the EPA has established as a safe level
for prolonged exposure.
Researchers in the study broke 45 bulbs in a variety of flooring surfaces and
then studied lingering gas levels after a variety of cleanup techniques. The
results contradicted a number of commonly held thoughts on CFLs, for example:
? Though proponents of CFLs often argue a single bulb only contains 5 mg of
mercury, the study found it was an average. The bulbs actually range from 0.9
to 18 mg of mercury.
? Though the EPA's Energy Star program recommends placing a broken bulb "in a
glass jar with a metal lid or in a sealed plastic bag," the study discovered
mercury vapor leaches right through plastic bags. "Of the 12 different types
of containers tested during the 23 different tests, the plastic bag was found
to be the worst choice for containing mercury emissions," researchers stated.
"Based upon this study, the DEP now suggests that a glass container with
metal screw lid with a gum seal be used to contain debris."
? Though the Energy Star guidelines suggest ventilating a room for 15 minutes
before attempting cleanup, the study found that in every case ? even in well-
ventilated rooms ? it took over an hour to drop mercury vapor levels below
the EPA safety standard.
? And for cleanup on carpets, the Energy Star guidelines suggest vacuuming
and disposing of the dust bag. The Maine study, however, discovered that
vacuuming served to simply stir the vapor into the air and "irreversibly
contaminate the vacuum". The researchers, acknowledging it was inconvenient,
recommended only one course of action for broken bulbs on carpet: remove the
carpet.
The Maine study also discovered, however, that carpets aren't the only
problem with broken bulbs.
"All three flooring surfaces in this study (pre-finished hardwood, short nap
carpet, and shag carpet) were able to be cleaned up with pre-study cleanup
guidance so that they looked clean. However, mercury vapors emanating from
all three surface types were detected, especially when agitated, for weeks
after the cleanup of a break. ? Flooring surfaces, once visibly clean, can
emit mercury immediately at the source that can be greater than 50,000
ng/m3."
"Flooring surfaces that still contain mercury sources emit more mercury when
agitated than when not agitated. This mercury source in the carpeting has
particular significance for children rolling around on a floor, babies
crawling, or non mobile infants placed on the floor."
As WND has reported, several countries, including the U.S., have signed laws
that will eventually phase out typical incandescent light bulbs and dictate
their replacement with CFLs.
Even the U.S. EPA, however, has recognized that recent studies show CFLs
aren't safe for all circumstances.
The Maine study may prove the most condemning of the use of fluorescent bulbs
yet.
Part of the study detailed the potential hazards posed by mercury vapor:
"There are a number of studies documenting neurotoxicity as a consequence of
inhalation of elemental mercury in adults. ? Studies documented changes in
EEG, deficits in peripheral nerve function, autonomic effects, psychological
and sleep changes, and deficits in fine motor performance, visuomotor
coordination, visual reaction time, visual scanning, memory, concentration,
and executive function."
In children, and especially unborn children, the results can be far worse:
"It is well established that the developing organism may be much more
sensitive than the adult to neurotoxic agents. For example, methylmercury
exposure can produce devastating effects in the fetus, including cerebral
palsy, blindness, deafness, and even death, while producing no or minimal
effects in the mother."
Children are also more susceptible to mercury vapor exposure from broken
CFLs:
"Infants and toddlers also have a much higher rate of respiration than
adults. Therefore they have a higher exposure to similar concentrations. They
also are lower to the floor and therefore closer to the source of the
exposure and presumably more apt to obtain a concentrated dose of mercury."
The study, however, didn't leave out the elderly:
"Elderly and unhealthy individuals may already be at comprised health and be
more susceptible to mercury effects than a healthy individual. For example,
mercury does kidney damage which could exacerbate an already existing kidney
disease."
Unlike many poisons that can be flushed out of the body, mercury
bioaccumulates, which means the various tissues store the toxin in increasing
amounts, a particular concern as the use of CFLs increases.
The Mercury Policy Project summary paper quotes an estimate that the U.S.
currently releases two tons of mercury vapor into the environment each year
from broken fluorescent bulbs alone. Two tons contrasts startlingly with the
level the EPA has established as dangerous to human health: a mere 300
billionths of a gram.
--
From: "_ Prof. Jonez _" <theprof@xxxxxxxxx>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-
limbaugh,talk.politics.guns,alt.politics,talk.politics.misc,us.military.army
Subject: Re: In the last 45 years america has THREE TIMES invaded tiny
defenseless countries that never did anything to us and murdered a million
innocent people
"_ Prof. Jonez _" <theprof@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in news:6ge86lFf8ltgU1
@mid.individual.net:
That the U$$A *deserved* 9.11 ... at the very least.
.
- Prev by Date: Re: "Armor piercing Black Talon ammo"
- Next by Date: For Deadrat: The Truth you feigned ignorance of.
- Previous by thread: Evanston latest suburb to repeal handgun ban in wake of high court ruling
- Next by thread: For Deadrat: The Truth you feigned ignorance of.
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
Loading
