Joan Savona, St Julians
Hidden cost of energy-saving bulbs
Many readers, especially eco warriors, would have been very pleased to read in Thursday's edition of The Times that, finally, the energy-efficient light bulbs (EELs) were shortly due to be distributed to homes in Malta. Hurrah, we shall all be doing our bit to save the planet. We have been told that countless tons of carbon emissions will be eliminated.
But... does anyone realise the real cost to humans and the environment of the production of these bulbs? They are mostly made in China and workers labour, in many cases, under the most appalling conditions to cater to the demand produced by the European Union Directive making EELs compulsory in 2012. During mining and production, workers are exposed to mercury which accumulates in the body and can result in poisoning, causing severe, debilitating illnesses affecting the nervous system, kidneys, lungs and unborn babies.
Well aware of the risks posed by exposure to mercury, the British government advises that in the event of a fluorescent light bulb being broken in the home, the room should be cleared for 15 minutes because of the danger of inhaling mercury vapour. One can well imagine then how hazardous exposure to mercury on a daily basis can be. China is also paying a heavy price in terms of the environment to produce these "green" light bulbs, especially in factories where there is little or no regulation governing safe production to protect the health of miners who supply the mercury and factory workers.
Anyone who is interested in further information should visit this site: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6211261.ece .
Popular Stories
In Discussion
6 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
J. Norman
Jun 25th 2009, 15:32
Miss Joan Savona if i were in your shoes i'll be thankful for small mercies, i never look a gift horse in the mouth so when you receive your FREE voucher just sling it or ignore it if thats how you feel, we don't happen to think same thank God, Malta does alot for the Maltese regardless of some people always complaining and never satisfied, well i tell you i am British and i believe that Malta sets out a good example to my country of Britian and other Eu countries, i believe the Maltese are well looked after by the authorities of the day who ever they may be and i am not a politician as a matter of fact i bl**dy hate politics, but i do believe in the slogan in this case the envirement and saving energy which in the long run will help other generations to come. Think about it youn know it make sence! as Del says.
J Martinelli
Jun 24th 2009, 14:33
Joan raises a few interesting points but I have to remind her that life in general is a constant compromise.
The factories in China leave a lot to be desired by OUR standards and OUR pay and OUR safety and OUR protection of the workers.
The same conditions apply to other factories throughout China which produce a thousand and one other consumer goods and if one had to prohibit the importation and sale of Chinese products, then the affordability of most items will be beyond most budgets. This is not to somehow condone the Chinese methods, but one has to remember that up to a few years ago, China had a much restricted economy which produced misery to the majority of its own people. Today, China has the fastest expanding economy, people can afford to buy a car for the first time in their lives and their standard of living is improving by leaps and bounds.
Raising standards in safety, wages etc. is a gradual exercise and those old enough will remember the days after the war, the first imports from Japan. If an item failed, it was 'Made in Japan', but today we look to Japanese for reliability!
George Caruana
Jun 24th 2009, 14:27
This is direct govt intervention resulting in a Market Failure. Thus it can never be an efficient cost-effective process. Somebody has to pay for this, including Joe Citizen
Dominic Vella
Jun 24th 2009, 12:56
The EU has been blocking imports from China, ostensibly as 'anti dumping' unfair practice protection, but really just to protect the German company Osram. If making bulbs is such a cancer risk, one would have thought they would have let these factories go to China without a fight!
Each bulb holds 4 to 5 milligrams of mercury compared to the 500 miligrams of mercury contained in an old style thermometer that many of us probably have in some drawer or at least put it in our mouth when we were children.
The UK guidance on 15 minutes comes from the same Health & Safety people who force builders to take a whole day of training and certification in how to use a ladder.
Tonna J.
Jun 24th 2009, 12:01
I agree with what Joan Savona and JC Micallef said, but if we decide not to buy these bulbs (especially if they are made in China) will the Chinese factories producing them close, lessening the hardship of their workers? On the other hand one can buy these bulbsmade elsewhere, but they come at a higher price.
But, sometimes, I think why should I make all these sacrifices for the environment when one sees all recyclables put out for the scammel to collect everyday when we have such a commodity of putting themnext to our front door every Tuesday so that they may be collected by the appropriate collectors for recycling? Unless the government makes it unlawful to put such items out on other days than Tuesdays,they will not learn.
jcmicallef
Jun 24th 2009, 10:06
Ms. Savona has a point.
We're also ignoring the fact that these eco lamps also create much more waste - both to produce and to dispose of, and as yet there's no solution in sight.
Whereas a standard light bulb contained a few grams of glass and easily-degradable metals, energy-savers contain much more glass (treated with fluorescent material), plastic, a mini-trsnpformer and a mini-PCB.
This scheme will increase the amount of these lamps - e.g. my mom only has one in her house, now she's going to have 5. When I started uising them 20 years ago, SL and PL lamps were high-quality Dutch-made. Now we have cheap china-made products that don't live up to their fame. I have have to change the recently-bought ones, while older ones are still working.
So, just as what happens whenever some dim-witted politician makes a discovery thanks to the 'experts' that occupy the tight circle around him, this so-called environment friendly and money saving exercise could probably cost us much more in the long term if not properly managed.
I've nothing against these,been using them for ages, but wee need to look further than the points of our noses.