The Australian: Mercury poisonings at Chinese CFL bulb factories on the rise

[BurtWorm]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25422382-23289,00.html

Deadly cost of 'green' light bulbs



Michael Sheridan | May 04, 2009
Article from: The Australian

A HEAVY environmental price is being paid for the production of "green" light bulbs in China's cost-cutting factories.

Large numbers of Chinese workers have been poisoned by mercury, which forms part of the compact fluorescent light bulbs.

A surge in foreign demand, set off by an EU directive making these bulbs compulsory within three years, has also led to the reopening of mercury mines that have ruined the environment of a remote part of China.

Doctors, regulators, lawyers and courts in China are increasingly alert to the potential damage to public health of an industry that promotes itself as a friend of the Earth but depends on highly toxic mercury for its core product.

Making the bulbs requires workers to handle mercury in either solid or liquid form because a small amount of the metal is put into each bulb to start the chemical reaction that creates light.

Mercury is recognised as a health hazard by authorities worldwide because its accumulation in the body can damage the nervous system, lungs and kidneys, posing a particular threat to babies in the womb and young children.

...

In southern China, compact fluorescent light bulbs destined for Western consumers are being made in factories that range from hi-tech multinational operations to sweatshops.

Tests on hundreds of employees have found dangerously high levels of mercury in their bodies, according to doctors and health officials in the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou.

...

In one Chinese-owned factory, Foshan city officials intervened to order medical tests on workers at the Nanhai Feiyang lighting factory after receiving a petition alleging dangerous conditions, according to a report in the Nanfang Daily, an official newspaper. The tests found that 68 out of 72 workers were so badly poisoned they required hospitalisation.

[Taverner]

1. Great WTF am I supposed to use now?

[BurtWorm]

3. Let's go back to candles.

:headbang:

[madrchsod]

7. american made candles!

[Taverner]

10. And then when our eyes go out at 30-something - what then?

[Deja Q]

2. Are there no regulations?

[w4rma]

4. In China? No. That's part of why China has all the manufacturing.

It's a way to skirt around regulations in the buying nations.

[BurtWorm]

5. This is China we're talking about.

No offense to China intended. :hide:

[madrchsod]

6. yup....nothing green or cheap about the cfl light bulbs.

those who promote these bulbs never look behind the chinese communist curtain.

we have to accept the fact that there`s nothing we can do about this because the usa does`t make light bulbs anymore. another industry goes to the communist china.

[hedgehog]

8. Actually, foreign companies can demand that their Chinese suppliers meet

certain standards of worker safety, environmental protection, etc. We need to put the pressure on the companies for the benefit of everyone involved.

[BurtWorm]

9. I believe a new kind of less dangerous, more efficient bulb is already on the market

No need to keep pushing higher standards on these bulbs if they're really so dangerous. It would be best to stop producing them now before they become another nuclear energy style problem, something that produces cheap energy but endangers the environment.

[Tesha]

11. Yeah, no risks involved in the production of Gallium Arsenide, right? (NT)

[BurtWorm]

12. Say more.

Please. I'm all ears.

[Tesha]

13. Most LEDs are made of some variation on the basic alloy of Galium and Arsenic.

With various other things like Aluminum, Nitrogen,
and Phosphorous added in depending on the wavelength
(color) of light you're trying to ahieve.

(Silicon Carbide also turns up occasionally.)

Arsenic is, of course, a well-known toxin.

Gallium is, chemically, somewhat similar to mercury
but substantially less toxic.

But semiconductor processing (including LED
manufacturing) uses many additional toxic
chemicals along the way. It's not at all clear
that manufacturing an LED is in any way "greener"
than *PROPERLY* manufacturing a CFL. And
right now, they're roughly tied in energy efficiency
during operation.

Tesha

[BurtWorm]

14. Are those really the only two alternatives now?

[Tesha]

16. Pretty much.

"Organic LEDs" (OLEDs) use different chemistries (and I'm not
familiar with those), but so far, OLEDs haven't yet produced a
long-lived blue LED, so "white-light" LEDs (made with either
tri-color monochromatic LEDs or blue LEDs with a yellow phosphor
or scintilator) are still problematic, although progress is being made.

Tesha

[bullwinkle428]

15. I'll take "No Safety Standards for Chinese Workers" for $500, Alex!