Effects of mercury needed in light bulb story.
A recent Contra Costa Times article with a local focus has good advice for recycling compact fluorescent light bulbs, but it should have included more on the health and environmental effects of mercury pollution.
Mercury is a potently toxic substance, so it is important to consider the proper disposal of household products that contain mercury. A recent article in the Contra Costa Times highlights the need to recycle compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) appropriately because of their mercury content.
The article notes that mercury is one of the “worst-offending” environmental contaminants but fails to mention why. Mercury affects the function of the brain, as well as the immune system. Young children are the most sensitive, because their nervous system is still developing.
Mercury in the environment can accumulate in food, especially in large fish. Federal officials warn pregnant women and women who are nursing or might become pregnant to avoid swordfish, shark, king mackerel and tilefish, and limit other fish to no more than 12 ounces per week.
The use of CFLs has been on the rise as both policy-makers and consumers push for greater energy efficiency. The article nicely emphasizes the need to consider the entire life-cycle of a CFL, including its safe disposal. The article lists multiple sources to find information about where to recycle CFLs, many of which are available nation-wide, including the zip-code specific search function on Earth911.com.
While the Contra Costa article has a local focus, recycling CFLs is certainly important in a global context.
The above work by Environmental Health News is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.environmentalhealthnews.org.
