Posted March 25 2008 by Gadi Ian
An Inconvenient Truth: “Going Green” May Be Hazardous to Your Health (And to the Environment)
Bought into all the global warming hysteria? If you’re one of the millions of Americans who’ve been sold on the alarmist propaganda of Al Gore’s glorified Powerpoint presentation, you may be wondering what you can do to “Go Green” and save the environment. Luckily for you, there are entire industries just waiting to tell you how to be a hero and save a few dollars as well (by buying their products of course)!
Everyone seems to be cashing in on the “carbon footprint” hype these days, including television stations. Back in November of 2007, as part of NBC’s “Green is Universal” campaign, Sunday Night Football broadcast a show with the studio illuminated by candlelight (and, of course, some giant video screens behind Bob Costas’s head — Shh! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!). The news anchors burned untold amounts of jet fuel as they flew to the ends of the earth to talk about the dangers of carbon emissions and global warming.
I turned on the TV tonight and apparently the CW11 television station has undertaken a “going green” project of its own, in which it urges viewers to conserve energy and live a more environmentally-conscious life. Sounds good so far, but this particular commercial’s advice was to start replacing one’s regular, incandescent light bulbs with new and improved CFL lightbulbs. If everyone in America were to do so, the station’s PSA claimed, it could produce the same effect as taking 8 million cars off the road for a year (to my knowledge, they didn’t provide a source for this assertion).
In any case, CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) are supposed to save energy, cut down on greenhouse gases, and save you money on electricity bills. As this video asks, considering all these benefits, “why NOT switch to CFLs?” To wit, the question in the video was rhetorical, but I’ve got a pretty good answer to it: these new lightbulbs are not safe!
Let’s start with a simple question: If you’re screwing in or replacing a light bulb and it breaks, what do you do?
If you’re like me, you probably wouldn’t give it much thought — you grab a broom or a vacuum cleaner, sweep up the bits of broken glass, and not walk around the room barefoot for a while just in case. If you’re using CFL bulbs though, you just made a huge mistake.
According to the EPA’s guidelines, cleaning up a broken CFL bulb requires a 12-step process. You must clear the area of people, open up a window for at least 15 minutes, shut off all central heating/air-conditioning systems, carefully scoop up the fragments of the bulb with stiff paper, cardboard and duct tape and seal them in a glass jar with a metal lid (or place them in a sealed plastic bag), wipe down the area with damp paper towels (and seal them in the glass jar as well), and REFRAIN FROM USING A BROOM OR VACUUM to clean up the mess. You must IMMEDIATELY take all cleanup materials outside and wash your hands thoroughly. Then you must contact your local government agency and find out where the nearest recycling center is and what the protocol for disposal of such bulbs is.
The reason for all this? CFLs contain mercury; it is a necessary part of the technology. Mercury exposure can cause severe health consequences, including brain and kidney damage. It is especially dangerous for small children and pregnant women. Thermometers that used mercury have gone out of style in recent years in large part due to the risks of breakage and mercury poisoning.
Although CFLs contain much less mercury than your standard mercury thermometer, CFL bulbs can contain up to about 30 mg of mercury. Improvements have been made though: In the newer models, as little as 5 milligrams of mercury are contained in each bulb. However, even this small amount is enough to contaminate 6,000 gallons of water so that they are beyond safe drinking levels (according to a Stanford University research report, as cited by MSNBC).
So what is the effect of these mercury-containing CFL bulbs? Well, in addition to endangering your health, they also pose a major threat to the environment. Most people are unaware that these bulbs even contain mercury, and so they throw them out in the trash just like they would a regular incandescent bulb. There are special recycling centers for disposing of these kinds of bulbs, but there aren’t so many of them and most people are not aware of their existence, let alone their necessity. Only seven states ban disposal of CFL bulbs as regular waste, and others have collection of such bulbs very infrequently (twice annually in D.C., according to the aforementioned MSNBC article).
As a result of “going green” campaigns, hundreds of millions of these CFL bulbs have already been sold and will be filling a landfill near you very soon — 290 million such bulbs were sold last year and CFLs constitute 20% of the United States light bulb market today. (http://www.naturalnews.com/022886.html). Inevitable breakage in these landfills will release tons of mercury into the air, soil, and groundwater.
And the best part? According to the new energy bill that was passed by Congress not so long ago, selling regular incandescent bulbs will be illegal starting in 2012. After all, environment be damned, we have to save the environment!
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14 Comments currently posted. 
Seth Jacobson says:
Zechariah Mehler says:
Gadi
Thank you for saying what I have been thinking for the past year. The “Green” thing is such an unbelievable crock and people are so eager to follow the doctrines of Green Living that they will buy any manor of product that they never consider what the product is or how or where its made.
Seth: As for the Jewish thing I generally contend that our authors musings constitute Jewish Perspective and that makes it inherently Jewish.
Yair Silbermintz says:
I’ve always said global warming was a myth, and all these green efforts were a giant waste.
Oh, and the purpose of this blog is to provide a venue for the jews of our generation to voice their opinions, in all matter, jewish or no.
Gadi Ian says:
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. In response to the questions over what this article has to do with being Jewish, I originally posted it under the assumption that what Zechariah and Yair said was the case, i.e. that this was a forum for Jews to express their views on topics they find interesting and relevant. As the site description puts it, “Through its content, Jewneric creates a platform that encourages conversation and provides both the outlet and the tools necessary for our community to discuss the topics they feel most passionate about.”
That said, there are a few issues in this article that I think are inherently Jewish. The first is the biblical commandment to preserve one’s health -” ושמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם”. Since this article deals with a very real health concern, i.e. mercury poisoning from mishandling of these CFL bulbs, spreading knowledge of this issue is definitely a Jewish concern.
The second issue is preservation of the environment, which is also a Jewish issue. We have halachot about “bal tashchit,” for example.
A more thorough discussion of these issues from a halachic or philosophical perspective might be interesting, and I encourage you to write such an article, but to allege there there is nothing “Jewish” to be found in this article is very far from the truth.
Oh yeah, another “Jewish” issue that crops up in this article is the idea of מדבר שקר תרחק — we should be seeking out truth and rejecting falsehoods, even when it comes to the dogma of global warming and “living green.”
BMehler says:
Geez Yair, have you been asleep and not noticing all the climate changes that are taking place on the planet.? Tornadoes in the winter, droughts in Africa, weird weather EVERYWHERE, floods all over the Midwest this spring. This has been a strange winter here in Chicago and all over . Climate change is real and we all must take it seriously. The light bulbs are an awful example of rushing to do SOMETHING without careful thought. I am really grateful for Gadi’s article on the problems with the bulbs that we have in our house. But helping take care of the planet should be taken seriously and we should all do our part.. And, Zechariah, going green is NOT a crock!
You are right that we should be very careful as to what ways we “go Green”, but that does not mean that we should put our heads in the sand and hope that the problem of climate change will go away or the planet will heal itself.
Gadi Ian says:
Not that it impacts the points about the light bulbs, but I think the last comment requires a presumption that (a) the recent climate changes are the result of man-made global warming and consequently (b) our actions can somehow reverse or slow the process of global warming. Contrary to what Al Gore and others have stated, these theories have not been conclusively proven and there is a growing body of evidence to the contrary. That said, global warming is not the only reason to be environmentally conscious. Hence, even if it is a crock, there are still very valid reasons to look for ways to conserve energy or protect air quality, among other things.
As for whether the planet will “heal itself,” that’s certainly a possibility. NASA’s aqua satellite (launched in 2002) actually recently returned with data showing that the earth has actually been cooling, not warming up, since the turn of the century. This throws a bit of a wrench into the global warming theory and the computer models many scientists have been using to predict it. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23411799-7583,00.html
I think a major point I was aiming at with my article above is that we should not be hasty in our approach to such issues; rather, we should wait until there is more conclusive scientific evidence in either direction before making drastic policy changes that can end up harming us as well as others.
Consider, for example, the “global cooling” scare in the 1970s. Here is an article from the April 28, 1975 issue of Newsweek, in which various climate changes led many scientists to conclude that global cooling was a very real threat: http://denisdutton.com/newsweek_coolingworld.pdf Consider the implications to our economy and living standards had we followed the advice of these alarmist (and quite respectable) scientists at the time or pursued some of their wackier policy suggestions (e.g. pouring soot on the polar ice caps to melt them) to curb drastic climate changes.
Right now, efforts to curb man-made carbon emissions, which have been increasing but have not been conclusively shown to be the cause of recent climate change, would stifle the economy of developing countries and thereby condemn the poor people living there to literal starvation. I for one would like to have more accurate and better scientific data before supporting such efforts. There are very serious consequences of the global warming movement, and erring on the side of caution may not mean “going green” just in case the threat is real.
BMehler says:
Gadi, you are obviously brilliant, well read and articulate. Zechariah told me not to respond because it would only make me look way dumb compared to your thoughtful and researched responses. I respectfully disagree with those skeptics who pooh -pooh climate change. It frightens me. Tonight on CBS Nightly news it was announced that there was graphic new evidence that there is global warming. The Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica just had a 160 square mile break away. That is seven times the size of Manhattan. Scientists believe that this is more evidence of global warming. In England on the east coast near Happisburgh 20 to 30 properties have been lost since 1995 because of rising seas due to the temperature change in the oceans. This was just tonight’s news, Gadi. I know that you will pull up a zillion more facts and articles to disagree and make your point. Mazel Tov. I hope that you are right and that there is no such thing as climate change. It is your generation, not mine, that will have to live with the world that is to come. I won’t try to debate you anymore,I know my limitations. Go ahead. We all have a right to our opinions.
Nune says:
You go girl!
Zechariah Mehler says:
Gadi,
Apologies my family is crazy.
Jack Reichert says:
You make good points, i think though that being green is about awareness. People should use florescent AND dispose of them properly! I responded to this post at http://greenprophet.com/2008/03/28/1227/green-hazardous/
raspberryswirl says:
Research conducted in the USA and Europe shows that on a lifecycle basis, individual CFLs are responsible for releasing less mercury into the environment than incandescent light bulbs. Mercury is a byproduct of coal-fired power generation, and since CFLs use much less electricity than an incandescent light bulb and last longer, they are responsible for less mercury pollution.
karink says:
Some research has shown that CFLs may be hazardous to one’s health:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/032008cancer-lights-out.php
This is based on an Israeli study and I am not surprised.
Karin Kloosterman
raspberryswirl says:
That study on Tree Hugger does not say that CFLs may be a health hazard. It associates higher levels of light in general with cancer. The study indicates that too much light at night interferes with the production of melatonin and that this could allow breast tumors to form. Any light causes the suppression of melatonin.
Gadi Ian says:
The evidence mounts…
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,346310,00.html
“U.N. Forecasters: Global Temperatures to Decrease
Average global temperatures in 2008 are forecast to be lower than in previous years, thanks to the cooling effect of the ocean current in the Pacific, U.N. meteorologists say.
The World Meteorological Organisation’s secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, said it was likely that La Nina, an abnormal cooling of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, would continue into the summer.
If the forecast holds true, global temperatures will not have risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory.”
Gadi, you make some very good points about the hazards and the irony of using bulbs containing mercury to help protect the environment. It’s the same argument I make in conversation with people who support nuclear power to reduce cabon emissions. Their argument, as I’m sure is the case with those pushing CFL use, is that IF DONE PROPERLY, the technology is very safe and clean, and it reduces the effects of global climate change. My feeling is generally that, although their point is valid, I do not trust the government or private industry to regulate themselves well enough to prevent human error or neglect due to profits to be gained or sheer laziness. Kudos on bringing this point to the fore.
But what does it have to do with being Jewish?
And - what does the stupidity of individuals caught up in hype have to do with the reality of the situation of global warming (or global climate change, or whatever you want to call it)? You seem to be strongly opposed to the theory, and particularly ticked off that Al Gore has won repeated awards for pointing it out to everyone. Your personal feelings on the matter, though, are not validated or substantiated by the fact that some (OK, many) who do buy the evidence for global warming (and may or may not be annoyed that one man is getting rich and earning accolades off of it) are reacting to it in a way that is just as harmful, if not more so, to the environment than whatever they were doing before. Point #1: There are stupid people out there. Point #2: You don’t buy into global warming. Point #3: Even if global warming is real - which you pretty clearly don’t believe - why should Al Gore be made into a hero over it? All valid points to make. But you’re trying to conflate #1 and #3, in order to generate sympathy for #2, without having to openly discuss the issue and get into a debate.
And - again - what does any of this have to do with being Jewish?