Tag: Mercury

Recycling Program To End! Happy Earth Week!

This week is Earth Week…..are you celebrating?

In keeping with the theme of this week I will post a piece on the environment…….when I started this blog about 7 years ago I wrote a piece about the new light bulbs that were all the rage…..the CFLs…..you know those compact little screwy looking bulbs that they are trying to get the whole world to switch in an attempt to protect the environment…..the post I wrote pointed out that these bulbs have mercury in them and I was concerned that the disposal of these into local landfills would eventually make our groundwater toxic, once the mercury leached into the soil……..I had a comment from a reader that pointed out that Home depot was providing people a collection center for later disposal……I thanked them for pointing that out but I was then concerned on just how many people would take the time to use such a service or would they be lazy and throw them away in their family trash which in turn would go to the landfill and eventually the mercury would make it into the drinking water…….I was called an alarmist many times and I guess I may have been the alarmist that people thought…….

But then I saw an article about a happening in Canada that played into my alarmist nature…….

A large home improvement retailer has decided to quietly pull the plug on its compact fluorescent light-bulb-recycling program nationwide, upsetting an environmental non-profit that has handed out hundreds of thousands of the energy-efficient bulbs in Canada.

Home Depot started selling CFL bulbs, which contain a small amount of mercury, about six years ago. And around the same time they also started collecting the burned-out bulbs — until last week.

An email from a Home Depot spokeswoman said “changes to the enforcement of compliance requirements in a number of provinces” made the company decide to leave the job to other recycling programs in Canada.

In addition to cancelling the CFL bulb recycling program nationwide, Home Depot has also cancelled its paint recycling programs in Ontario and Quebec.

How will this effect the US?  Will Home Depot here in the lower part of North America follow suit?  What are the alternatives in recycling for these potentially dangerous bulbs?

Global Treaty On Mercury Use

Now here is a great idea…….. finally.

The United States has shifted its stance to call for a legally-binding global treaty to phase out deadly mercury use that threatens the health of people worldwide, officials said on Tuesday.

Hopes had been high ahead of the conference that the new administration of U.S President Barack Obama would support the European Union’s calls for an international treaty to ban mercury. Some other states favor a voluntary approach.

The new policy was unveiled by the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for environment and sustainable development, Daniel Reifsnyder, late on Monday at the start of a major U.N. gathering of environment ministers in Kenya.

About 6,000 tonnes of mercury — a heavy metal known for more than a century to damage the human nervous system — enter the environment every year. Mercury’s other effects include liver damage, memory loss or disturbances to vision.

It is about time that the US join into the fray to control the use of the killer mercury.  I need to point out one thing and ask a question. What about the new light bulbs that everyone is so gaga over?  You do know that they contain mercury right?  I wrote about this in a earlier post on Info Ink.

Truth About Your New Light Bulbs

Eventually all light bulbs will be these newer ones and eventually all that mercury will make it into the water table and into the food supply…how will the treaty handle that?  Someone, anyone answer that question.

Truth About Your New Light Bulbs

I wrote a piece awhile back about the dangers of the new light bulbs (CFL) and then I was reading on the Green Party website and found that they and others are hardily supporting the new bulbs.  I just had to send a letter to the Party about their position.  It follows here:

I recently was on the website of the Green Party, USA and found their 10 values, which are excellent values to have, but I read their #3:

3. ECOLOGICAL WISDOM
Human societies must operate with the understanding that we are part of nature, not separate from nature.  We must maintain an ecological balance and live within the ecological and resource limits of our communities and our planet.

We support a sustainable society which utilizes resources in such a way that future generations will benefit and not suffer from the practices of our generation. To this end we must practice agriculture which replenishes the soil; move to an energy efficient economy; and live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.

Why do I bring this particular one up? I will answer that in awhile, but there is more I need to say first. On the Mississippi chapter of the Green Party they display a piece from 18seconds.org telling about the benefits of the new CFL bulbs. The say that say that Mississippians have bought 2,219,236 of the bulbs. Those bulbs have saved 188,624,690 lbs of coal and that 807,313,672 lbs of carbon monoxide have been eliminated and that $51 million have been saved by using the bulbs. It also says that 12,854 cars are off the road. Now what does cars have to do with the bulbs? Got no idea but wanted to include all the stats.

This statement is part of the Green Party’s 2008 Environmental policy statement:

· No new coal fired-power plants; no new nuclear power plants; reduce by 90% the mercury emissions of coal-fired power plants by 2012; protect human health and the environment.in the disposal of coal-fired power plant wastes.

Again the Green party is concerned with gaining votes than a real solution to the problem. They are willing to support reduction in mercury emissions, while supporting a position that will add mercury to the soil and water table. A helluva plan!

There is at least one presidential that is on the bandwagon for the new bulbs. From the Clinton website:

An aggressive comprehensive energy efficiency agenda to reduce electricity consumption 20 percent from projected levels by 2020 by changing the way utilities do business, catalyzing a green building industry, enacting strict appliance efficiency standards, and phasing out incandescent light bulbs.

Now you are definitely asking what has all this to do with anything? Let me ask, how will you dispose of the bulbs when you have to replace them? Probably throw them in your trash, right? I know, get to the

you have to replace them? Probably throw them in your trash, right? I know, get to the point Professor. Next time you buy the new bulbs look at the bottom of the package. The bulbs contain mercury. And according to the EPA fall under this Act:

These bulbs will be consider hazardous waste and as such will fall under the Resources Conservation and recovery Act (RCRA). And as such cannot be disposed of in incenerators or landfills.

Household users of efficient mercury containing fluorescent lamps, including compact fluorescents, are typically exempt from special disposal requirements although a few states and localities ban homeowners from disposing of such lamps in normal household trash. Sorry, but this is not acceptable.

Now my point is, how many consumers will read the bottom of the package? When they change a bulb where will they throw it? Knowing the answers to these questions, the one to ask now is how long will it take the mercury to get into the water table?

Once it enters the water table here is what the population has to look forward to:

1. Psychological Disturbances (erethysm)
Irritability, Nervousness, Fits of Anger, Memory Loss, Lack of Attention, Depression, Low Self Confidence, Anxiety, Drowsiness, Shyness/timidity, Decline of Intellect, Insomnia, Low Self Control.

2. Oral Cavity Disorders
Bleeding Gums, White Patches – Mouth, Stomatitis, Bone Loss Around Teeth, Loosening of Teeth, Ulcers of Gums- Palate- Tongue, Excessive Saliva, Burning of Mouth, Foul Breath, Gum Pigmentation, Metalic Taste.

3. Gastrointestinal Effects
Abdominal Cramps, Colitis, Crohn’s disease, Gastrointestinal Problems, Diarrhea.

4. Systemic Effects
Cardiovascular, Irregular Heart Beat, Changes in Blood Pressure, Feeble or  Irregular Pulse, Pain or Pressure in Chest

5. Neurologic
Chronic or Frequent Headaches, Dizziness, Ringing or Noises in Ears, Fine Tremors (Hands, Feet, Eye Lids, Tongue)

6. Respiratory
Persistant Cough, Emphysema, Shallow or Irregular Breathing.

7. Immunological
Allergies, Asthma, Rhinitis, Sinusitis, Swollen Lymph Nodes in Neck

8. Endocrine
Subnormal Temperature, Cold Clammy Hands & Feet, Excessive Perspiration, Muscle Weakness, Fatigue, Hypoxia, Edema, Loss of Appetite, Loss of Weight, Joint Pain.

Mercury is an element in the earth’s crust. Humans cannot create or destroy mercury. Pure mercury is a liquid metal, sometimes referred to as quicksilver that volatizes readily. It has traditionally been used to make products like thermometers, switches, and some light bulbs.

Mercury is found in many rocks including coal. When coal is burned, mercury is released into the environment. Coal-burning power plants are the largest human-caused source of mercury emissions to the air in the United States, accounting for over 40 percent of all domestic human-caused mercury emissions. EPA has estimated that about one quarter of U.S. emissions from coal-burning power plants are deposited within the contiguous U.S. and the remainder enters the global cycle. Burning hazardous wastes, producing chlorine, breaking mercury products, and spilling mercury, as well as the improper treatment and disposal of products or wastes containing mercury, can also release it into the environment. Current estimates are that less than half of all mercury deposition within the U.S. comes from U.S. sources.

Time for the people to wake up! A wonderful thing, energy saving, but everything comes at a price and the CFLs have a price. My question is why would anyone support anything that would have such lasting effects? We settle for short term feel good solutions and the whole time we are poisoning our children’s children. Good plan!

My point is that this is NOT the answer!

New Light Bulbs And Health

we have all seen the new bulbs, those squiggly things that are butt ugly…..by a few years the bulbs that you use now will no longer be sold and we all will be forced to use the squiggly thingys.  So I thought I would get a jump on the mandatory use “law” and start buying them now…..GE should be happy they will make a butt load of money off of these…..I was gonna replace a bulb and open my new package and read the label……Do any of you realize that these bulbs contain mercury and that there is a warning label on the package?

What is my point?  After thinking it over, I wondered once the bulbs are mandatory and they will be showing up in masse in landfills, how long will it be until the mercury makes it to the water table?  How long will it take before the fish and wildlife are poisoned?  Then eventuall, how long before the neurological effects show up in humans, especially newborns?

My daughter ask me what the catch was when they first started pushing these new tyoes of bulbs…..at that time i did not have an answer….but now her question has been answered.