Are CFLs Safe To Use In Your Home?

Posted by Lloyd on January 23, 2011 under EMFs in your home | Be the First to Comment

For years we have all had traditional light bulbs in our homes and workplaces. Now suddenly the shops are full of these energy-saving compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s). Traditional incandescents are being phased out.  In Europe they have been banned.

It’s claimed CFLs consume five times less electricity than a regular incandescent light bulb.

Quite impressive.

What about the dangers? We don’t hear much about those.

CFLs Are Safe Why Are There Studies That Say the Opposite?

The truth is all CFL’s give off electromagnetic pollution. I know because I can feel it. But lots of studies also support this:

-  K-Tipp a Swiss consumer magazine concluded after extensive testing that all CFL’s cause electrosmog

-  Stiftung Warentest, the German consumer organization recommends keeping at least 1.5 m from CFL’s because of the EMF pollution

-  Prevention magazine has found that CFLs emit RF radiation, click here to see the video

-  CFLs contain mercury which makes disposing of them in an environmentally friendly way problematic

According to the Bavarian Environment Agency the body currents caused by CFL’s are 30 to 100 times higher than traditional incandescent bulbs.

CFLs because they save energy by repeatedly turning themselves on and off have also been found to create dirty electricity. The adverse health effects from dirty electricity range from diabetes to MS to cancer.

LED Bulbs The Safe Alternative

So what’s the solution? A technology far superior to CFL’s is LED’s (light emitting diodes).  There are two advantages with LED bulbs:

- they are clean, thats to say they emit virtually no dirty electricity

- they are mercury-free and lead-free and can be considered safe

The only snag is the price. But surely this higher price can be easily justified? And using CFLs in places like hallways and for external lighting would not seem to be a problem.

Below is a transcript of a youtube video on the dangers of CFLs.

[The video has been taken off youtube but I am leaving the transcript in so that you can make your own opinion.]

CFLs A Serious Risk To Health

Moderator:  “They’re being hailed as the new energy savers for around the home.  But tonight, alarming claims that eco-friendly lights are a serious risk to your health.  David Eccleston has this special investigation.

David:  We’re constantly being told of the serious dangers of ultra violet rays from the sun.  You know the message – slip, slop, and slap every time you’re outdoors.  But, what if your family was being exposed to worrying levels of UV radiation in your home, every single day.  Tonight, how these eco-friendly gloves could be giving you cancer.

Smith:  The dangers are not only significant; they’re going to be unavoidable.

David:  This is serious.  Crime writer Clayton Smith is convinced UV radiation from the new green globes contributed to his head cancer.

Smith:  It has to be known.

David:  Like most of us, Clayton would spend hours a day working under the fluorescent and energy efficient globes which emit UV radiation.

Smith:  I say, “I’m sorry, no longer.  Now I’m going to put an incandescent on my desk and forget this.  I don’t want to be irradiated all my working life.”

David: Clayton, we’ve got hundreds of (incandescent) globes here.

Smith:  We certainly have, and we’re going to have a lot more.  The shed is going to be filled with these globes very shortly.

David:  But why buy these globes?

Smith:  Because I’m worried about skin cancer and these won’t give it to me.

David:  He’s stockpiling for a good reason – incandescent globes will be phased out in November this year because they burn, on average, 80% more energy than the newer, compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs.  But, here’s the catch: they may be worse for the environment, but they’re better for us.  They don’t leach the same levels of UV radiation.

Smith:  This will be inescapable.  Your family, at home, will no longer have globes that don’t hurt them; they’ll have globes hurting them, hurting their skin.  Definitely skin cancer.

Can CFLs Cause Skin rashes, Migraines, and Epilepsy?

David:  The health dangers of the new globes are an issue all over the world.  This is what happened to Renda Ryder in the UK after just 20 minutes under a CFL.

Ryder:  When I looked in the mirror and saw my face I was absolutely horrified.

David:  Their claim is that low energy fluorescent bulbs, the energy efficient bulbs, can trigger skin rashes, migraines, and even epilepsy.  True or false?

(Doctor):  False.

David:  Dr. Steven Shumak from the College of Dermatology says you’d have to suffer from a skin condition such as lupus and sit under a lamp for an hour to break out in a rash like that seen in the UK.

(Doctor):  This is a significant scam.

David:  It’s not true?

(Doctor):  It’s not that it’s not true, it’s a marked exaggeration of what the effects are.

Michael:  It exploded in my hand, a white vapor like a little mist thing came out and my son, who stood around about here (indicating in back of the speaker), as soon as he whiffed it, he collapsed.

David:  Michael Night had no idea the white vapor was extremely dangerous.  It was toxic.

Michael:  I mean, he was totally incapacitated for 2 to 3 seconds.  What I found very incredible is no warnings on these bulbs to even mention that there’s mercury inside them.

David:  And he’s not alone.  Our inbox is loaded with people voicing the same concerns.

Douglas: The evidence is, they are not a particular hazard when a single one of these is broken.

CFL UV Exposure

David:  Brian Douglas is the boss of the Lighting Council of Australia.  He defends the manufacturers’ decision to leave off warnings that CFLs contain mercury, and says the UV exposure is within industry safety guidelines.

Douglas:  The scientific evidence suggests that only a very tiny proportion of the population is affected and hence, we see no real need at this stage for warning labels.

David:  But, why, if these bulbs are so harmless, does the government suggest on their website to wear gloves, protective clothing, and sweep up broken globes to prevent the toxic dust from spreading through the home?  It will be like a HazMat operation every time a bulb breaks.

Night:  Stay away from buying and purchasing these bulbs because they’re toxic, they contain mercury, and they’re dangerous for the environment.

Smith:  Stock up on incandescent bulbs while you can still buy them because after they run out, you’re going to be getting skin cancer in the home.”

I do not believe CFLs are safe, LEDs though more expensive are a much safer alternative to CFLs.