Amid the confusion and controversy surrounding those funky new lightbulbs we are all supposed to use (reports of high mercury levels, how long they actually last, the cost, etc) and the bids to ban incandescent lights in the US, Canada and elsewhere - I just spotted this link on Mike Church's FB page discussing a study by two California universities that found excess levels of lead, arsenic, and other contaminents in LED bulbs (like Christmas tree, house lighting, etc). Oh Joy. So in our bid to try to reduce global warming, another controversial issue that's been raging for many years, we get to poison ourselves on a more direct and personal level with all these new 'energy saving' lightbulbs. Woooooooo!
http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/uc-researchers-led-lights-contain-lead-arsenic-8634
Remember the old saying,"if it ain't broke,don't fix it"?
ReplyDeleteThese days that become more appropriate every day as quick fix solutions for real and imaginary problems are exposed for the useless and ineffective actions they are.
DMorris
don't let the LED crap from China spoil the real value of LED luminaires.
ReplyDeleteThe DOE started LM79 just because of so much crap coming into the states. All LEDs are not made alike. RoHs compliant LEDs are not allowed to have led in them. Study about things before making comments,
""Anonymous said... Study about things before making comments,""
ReplyDeleteGotta love anonymous posters who say things like that.
Anyhow, I commented on a link I received for a study. Not allowed to do that on my own blog apparently?
The study's second half will be their results from testing LEDs in street lamps and other public buildings/areas that are already up and in use in California. If you would like to write the Cali municipalities and govt offices to tell them what kind of lights to buy, go right ahead, and you can tell them to 'study things' since they already have these particular lights, with high levels of lead and other toxins, in current use :)
Personally, I like my LED lights. Fairly pricey but I purchased them long before the bandwagon-jumpers even heard of them. I bought two big strings of christmas LED lights, for example, about 9-10 years ago and they still work like a charm. I love them. We have talked about changing to LED lighting as much as possible when we buy our new house next year (fingers crossed), and we will certainly study the various types before going all the way.
But the purpose of this post was to educate people to watch what is in what they are buying and not just rush out the door buying crap left and right, assuming it is safe and good for the environment just because someone else says it is. Like you said, 'study', but it's tiresome and boring to have people dictate to others what they are allowed to comment on. If people purchase the 'wrong' kind of bulbs, they could very well be poisoning themselves. Nothing wrong with stating that fact.