The author of today’s post, John Balbus, M.D., is Chief Health Officer at Environmental Defense.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use dramatically less energy than incandescent bulbs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But they also contain mercury – a dangerous toxin.
What if you drop a CFL and it breaks? How much trouble are you in?
Erica Rowell, today’s guest blogger, is a Web Editor and Producer at Environmental Defense, and our resident expert on compact fluorescents.
Last year, in converting my apartment to energy-saving compact fluorescent lights (CFLs), I broke two. I opened the window, swept up the fragments, wiped the floor with a damp paper towel, put the towel and the broken CFLs in a plastic bag and tied it. My super disposed of the bag. I’m not worried about mercury exposure – they broke a couple of months ago, and my cats and I are fine. A similar incident in Maine was a different story.
When Brandy Bridges shattered a CFL spiral in her daughter’s bedroom, aware that it contained trace amounts of mercury, the concerned mother looked into proper disposal. After a mishmash of good and bad advice, she ended up with a $2,000 clean-up bill and a lot of fear (read full story).
What can we learn from Ms. Bridges? Know some basic facts.
John Balbus, M.D., M.P.H. is a senior scientist and head of the Environmental Defense health program.
People tend to think that human life is independent from other species – that global warming’s effect on other life forms is sad, but not of direct concern. Think again! What happens to other species can have a profound effect on us. Global warming can change where on earth a particular life form can or cannot thrive. And when that life form carries or causes disease, look out!
Consider this case in point:
The second installment of the IPCC’s 4th Assessment on Climate Change, titled “Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”, was released on April 6, 2007. In recognition of this report, I’m doing a weekly series called “Climate Dangers You May Not Know About“.
1. More Acidic Oceans
2. Drinking Water and Disease
3. Shifts in Lifecycle Timing
4. Drought and Violence
5. Melting of the North Pole
The recently released second report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) talks about the many ways that global warming will affect people’s health. Their list includes malnutrition, heat exhaustion, diarrhea from water-borne disease, cardio-respiratory problems from air pollution, and more.
People think of these as third world problems, but the U.S. is by no means immune. Heat waves in urban areas cause dangerously bad air quality, both from pollutants and ozone (see our article for details). Plus increased precipitation and flooding (see report [PDF]) can cause dangerous water pollution problems. Here’s why.
