Re: The Road To Serfdom Is Lit By CFL Bulbs, Ian Hunter, May 6.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) have become a badge of urban environmental righteousness, but in the real world, where the laws of physics hold greater sway than the chanting of Suzukian scripture, their benefits are far from clear. An incandescent bulb is often controlled by a dimmer switch, so it may spend most of its life providing a warm light at one-quarter of its full brightness and energy consumption. Most CFLs, on the other hand, will not work with a dimmer, and so they provide their stark, drugmart light at full brightness all the time. In this situation, the CFL bulb will consume more energy than an incandescent.
And then there is the issue of mercury, described by the Children's Health Environmental Coalition as "a potent neurotoxin that can cause permanent damage to the brain and central nervous system, especially among young children. In pregnant women, mercury can pass through the placenta and can harm the fetus." All CFL bulbs contain mercury; incandescent bulbs contain none. If a CFL bulb breaks on your kitchen floor, a crawling toddler is exposed to a much greater lifetime risk than a few glass shards.
As well, the persistence of mercury assures bio-accumulation of this dangerous neurotoxin, and its re-emergence in the food chain and water supply.
Consumers may be tricked by environmental spin, but the laws of nature will not. Not only is the case for energy savings far from settled, but the introduction of a new source of mercury contamination offsets any purported benefit. And of course, who wants drugmart lighting at home?
Alastair T. Gordon, Toronto.
