The right kind of bulb?

Punishment of Luxury

Fluorescent bulbs contain a small amount of mercury & much less than in your fillings & you have probably had & fluorescent tube burning in the garage forever did you ever worry about that. This Is a very red herring The amount of mercury pumped into the atmosphere by a coal fired power station to keep a conventional bulb for burning for the lifetime of a fluorescent is very significantly more than the mercury in a fluorescent. Especially important in China. I could give you the figures but I can't be bothered with all the googling Therefore using fluorescent bulbs will have the effect of using less electricity & reducing the amount of mercury in the environment. That's what we in the sane world call a win win

PK

Is mercury in NHS baby vaccines? Sounds rather far fetched to me. I cant find any references on the web either.

newmania

Polly Filler in town I see...

Selby

Goodness Frazer - worry about something real....apart from the "dead light" that is commom when a energy saving bulb is switched on (soon brighenes up though....) there seems no real reason not to use them. That is unless you don`t believe saving the planet to be a good thing. Who knows in 5 years or so when they reach the end of their useful life we may disvcover that re-cycling is a problem due to the component parts. By then we should have devised a safe & eco-friendly way to get rid of them safely.

Anan

These lights are not as good as the traditional ones, and forcing them on people is no way to make progress. Since the technology is not ready yet, why force it on everyone? When a normal bulb breaks, you can just sweep up the rubbish and throw it in the bin. I have never heard of something so ridiculous as having to cover your face, open windows, and then run away for 15mins, and then to clear it up "avoiding making airbourne dust, and if you do not breathing it in." This is nonsense! I'll have some more old bulbs please!

And with regards to the whole "saving the planet" farce, there isn't even any solid evidence that the world is warming up, let alone that it is due to carbon dioxide (and man-made co2 at that)!

MTK

This detailed, balanced article is required reading on this matter: http://www.sound.westhost.com/articles/incandescent.htm

Enraged of Enfield

Another vote here against "click here to read more". It makes it so much more difficult and time consuming to read the blog. Is it true that someone has started a petition?

Fergus Pickering

Anan, I wouldn't bother doing any of that stuff. This is Defra speaking. Just do what you do with a normal light bulb.

beverly johnson

People are remarkably blase about the possible health problems of these lights. 20 million households in this country , on average 25 light bulbs are used in total per house this equals half a billion , double that for use in the work place. We have 1 billion light bulbs containing mercury , after the first couple of years we will be throwing them away on a regular basis if we follow Fergus' suggestion we will be polluting the environment but to follow DEFRA's advice will be a non-starter for 95% of people. Frankly if any business came to the market with a product that contained a toxic ingredient and which brought combined opposition from some 50 charities and professional organisations The Government would be in there banning it immediately The policy is totally misguided and badly thought out

Fraser Nelson

Selby/Luxury, whether using these lightbulbs constitites "saving the planet" or not is a separate debate. But the logic that mercury is in fillings, therefore it must be safe, doesnt wash. Its toxic properties are well-established, and its use in dentistry and outrage which we'll look back on in 50 years' time as madness. PK, the NHS will never admit to having "mercury" in vaccines - imagine what parents would think! Here's a PQ from Lord Hunt: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200203/ldhansrd/vo030127/text/30127w02.htm Fergus, Defra im sure is being over-protective. My point was it's similtaneously forcing these things on us, and warning us against them. Given the choice, i'd prefer not to take the risk with mercury. But my objection is that under this government, I will soon not have the choice.

Pat

Oho, not to mention the skin rashes, migraines and epilepsy! http://web.mac.com/sinfonia1/iWeb/Global%20Warming%20Politics/A%20Hot%20Topic%20Blog/EA68FDBB-2CF3-4712-B482-EA83DF58528C.html

Max Kaye

I hate the light quality (or lack of) emitted by these 'low-energy' bulbs. Normal (incandescent) bulbs give a superior quality and level of light; they are manufactured from simple components which are safe, and are easily and cheaply dimmed; and light up immediately without a time-delay. (The new generation of LED lighting which overcome some of the flaws of low-energy fluorescent bulbs still suffer from inferior light quality).

The idea that these bulbs will be 'banned' and I will be unable to buy them - as if they were illegal drugs or hand grenades - is appalling. I've started stockpilling good old incandescent bulbs which should last me for the next 40 years. I do hope that the environmental gestapo won't conduct house-to-house searches to uncover illegal caches, as I shall have to resort to a form of civil disobedience that Ghandi wouldn't approve of....

Brook Whelan

The decision to ban the traditional form of light bulb is a disgrace. At the very least they could have given customers a choice as to which type of light bulb they wish to buy. I note that the 150watt light bulbs are banned already! The low energy lightbulbs being forced upon us are inferior in quality, and I will not be buying any low energy light bulbs until they give more light and are safer.

Selby

Frazer - I was not at any point dismissing the idea that these bulbs are not dangerous - but knowing that they contain mercury does not mean we should bannish them without serious consideration to the benefits they offer.... we are surrounded by dangerous chemical substances...think of the bathroom cabinet/under the sink/in the garage.....the point is once we know that a substance is dangerous we can take reasonable steps to use it responsibily - household bleach and over the counter painkillers spring to mind....New products are constantly coming onto the market that outdo their old equivalents in terms of efficiency and economy of use. Mistakes will be made (leaded paints and asbestos are examples...I suspect in the near future brillo pads will be another - the combination of sharp strands of rusting metal digging into soft water soaked skin will be seen to be a hazzard that should have been avoided). It is only by using and seeing how things deveop that progess is made. If the new bulbs can be proven to save energy aka household running costs then they should be developed so that they become more user friendly. Hopefully by the time their light dims the recycling/disposal of them should also have been sorted.

dearieme

Since the new bulbs take some time to warm up and since they are damaged by being switched on and off often, people will presumably let them burn for longer, leaving open the question of how much energy they will save. I've used two of them for years in applications for which they are ideally suited and object to the pretence that some jack in office is a better judge than I am of what's suitable. I hope the epilectics sue en masse.

Jessica

I certainly will not be forced to use the low energy bulbs as Ive heard that they can cause eczema and other skin complaints.

Mastiff

Inhaling mercury vapour is what is potentially fatal, not liquid mercury itself - you could swallow mercury and it would pass straight through you (wannabe-murderers have failed when putting mercury into chocolates, etc.) This is why the advice is to ventilate the room as Hg vapour would be present initially. This is also why Big Brother government has banned mercury barometers - I don't remember the public getting quite so excited about that one - just more indignant about not being allowed to have barometers any more.

Scary

Jessica, what you say is possibly true but not scientifically proven one way or the other. However, you are entitled to your opinion and it is fundamentally wrong for the government to be denying you freedom of choice and the ability to look after your health as you see fit. My guess is that ordinary light bulbs will be for sale on the black market long after they have been banned by Brussels. That's what happens when government pass stupid and petty legislation, more interested in postures than actually helping the people they are employed to represent.

Nicholas Millman

Selby: the point you seem to be missing is about choice. The conventional light bulbs have been banned. When was that ever debated in this so-called democracy? What about when the government in its "wisdom" decides a four-hours nightly blackout is in the interests of the environment?

Jessica: I'm not sure you will have any option. I don't know what the alternatives are but it seems the bulb companies are in cahoots with the government over this one and it is yet another fait accompli.

Ollyk

What I find unbelievable is that the government aren't first discouraging the use of narrow angled halogen lamps (GU10's etc.), or at the very least issuing advice and strict guidelines with regard installation etc. Whilst these lamps are more efficient than standard TF lamps (light output per watt) how many times do we see people removing a couple of 60w light fittings to replace them with 6 or sometimes more 50W halogen equivalents.. I recently replaced our 80Wkitchen tube with 4 50 watt (200W) multi-directional lamps (given to us by a friend) and the light output was so poor the tube went back! In some cases the cable used for the lighting ring has to be up-rated too!!! Jeez I hate all this global warming… sorry, climate change b~llsks!

Selby

Nicholas - hmmmm, for decades goverments of the day has been taking decisions that concern the health & safety of the individual without going through the democratic process of consultation. Early examples concern chlorine in drinking water (nobody ever asked me my opinion and I certainly dont have a choice about an alternative source) more recently the manufacturing of painkillers in foil packages (potential sucicides found it too easy to gulp down the pills in the old style packaging), nope I don`t remember being asked about that one either.... Now, annoyingly I have to call in a qualified electrician to do basic jobs around the house I`m perfectable capable of performing myself - but the government has decided through legislation that for the health and safety of the many the convience of the few has to be overlooked - don`t get me started on Health & Safety laws....Yes it is annoying, yes the choices we are left with are being slowly eroded but if you look at the bigger picture life does not change that much. Finally, you do have a choice. Get involved if it pisses you off that much. Get involved with local politics and canvass and complain loudly so that your voice is being heard. The best thing that is coming out of the Brown Government and the weak opposition is that at last lots of people are beginning to complain about lots of things. Excuse me if I do not feel that low energy light bulbs are worth the effort when other invasions of choice and privacy are creeping up without too much comment from the bloggers. The rise and rise of CTTV for example.

Fergus Pickering

But I don't WANT to get involved. I just want the bastards to get their tanks off my lawn. You KNOW what politicians are like. I knew Robin Cook pretty well and he did at least ONE principled thing in his life. But I wouldn't TRUST him to tell me the time. If you're INVOLVED it takes up all your time, time when you could be drinking or falling in love or playing cricket or writing sonnets. When your life flashes before your eyes will you say 'Oh God I wish I'd got more INVOLVED at a local level. Just let me have my sodding LIGHT BULBS.

Punishment of Luxury

Fraser I assume that on this basis you will be having all of your fillings removed pronto? I never said that Mercury was safe It's just not that dangerous we have lived with at home at work forever & I haven't read any articles in your blog or magazine about the dangers of thermometers around the house I repeat this is red herring. In Fifty years time with temps 3.0C warmer than today & the Thames lapping round the steps of 22 Old Queen St this debate will look like madness. C'mon admit it you have only posted this story as part of The Spectators denial of man made global warming so why not say so (low energy light bulbs equal eco madness) It's nothing to do with the safety or otherwise of the things. They do come in nice designs now http://www.plumen.com/. Lighten up everyone.

enough now !

I feel a sonnet coming on......

mark

Mastiff - I think the baning of mercury relates to thermometers, not barometers, which rely on a sealed vacuum to operate. Last time I checked, the Government had not banned vacuums!

Bryan Forbes

My latest article seems to have been anticipated by the volume of comments; good, keep them coming.

Ann Moss

This always has been a matter of money, like with those energy saving bulbs, remember? they are supposed to save your money consuming less energy and lasting longer, but in fact they only cost more and give poor light and that's it! Anyway, I do not think they will totally exclude ordinary bulbs from production.. can you imagine energy-saving cheap stage lamps in a theatre? I can tell you for
sure, I would not like to visit a show lit by their dim light!
I do not think anybody else would!