Hazard warning from compact light bulbs

Environmentally friendly when used but giving rise to many hazardous wastes in the production process, compact bulbs are not worthy of "friends" of humans.

When Britons are forced to use energy-saving light bulbs from 2012, they will reduce 5 million tons of CO2 every year. However, China, the world's largest light bulb manufacturer, has not benefited from their achievements. A large number of Chinese workers suffered from mercury poisoning, a component of compact light bulbs. The sudden increase in demand from Western countries has led to mercury mines being re-activated, causing environmental and human damage.

Doctors, lawyers, judges, manufacturers in China, the country supplying 2/3 of the compact bulbs to the UK, are warning the industry could be a potential threat to public health. copper.

Production of light bulbs requiring workers to be exposed to mercury in solid or liquid form due to light bulbs requires a small amount of this metal to 'start' the chemical reaction to produce light. Mercury is a poison that is harmful to health, when it enters the body it can destroy the nervous system, lungs and kidneys, causing damage to the fetus and young children. In the manufacturer's instructions for use, it is clear that if a compact bulb is broken at home, it should be cleaned within 15 minutes to avoid inhaling mercury gas.

Mercury in compact light bulbs can cause injury to producers.Photo: carolstream.org.

The Chinese Ministry of Health documents, which instruct doctors and health campaigns to address mercury poisoning in factories as a public health concern. 'Pregnant and lactating women should not work in mercury exposure environments' , write guidelines.

In southern China, compact bulbs exported to Europe are produced from high-tech factories to shabby factories. Information from local workers and health officials in Foshan cities and Guangzhou showed that health checks of hundreds of workers found high levels of mercury in their bodies and many in That number has been asked to go for treatment.

'When checked, the mercury and urine content in the blood is higher than the permitted standard but the manager says I'm still healthy and my immune system can cleanse itself,' a young woman said. . Doctors from two regional health centers said they received patients from Osram's Foshan factory, the UK's largest manufacturer. However, Osram's leaders denied this information and said they used the latest technology to maintain hygiene and safety standards for workers.

In other cases, Foshan city officials requested health checks for workers at the Nanhai Feiyang photovoltaic plant after receiving a complaint about hazardous work conditions here. After testing, the results showed that 68/72 workers were seriously injured and asked to go to the hospital for treatment.

A medical journal of the Ministry of Health of China also mentioned the case of compact electric ball factory in Jinzhou, where 121/123 people have levels of mercury exceeding the permitted standard, some even exceed the target Standard up to 150 times.

In China, people soon became aware of the toxicity of mercury because, according to legend, more than 2,000 years before the emperor Qin Shihuang, died after swallowing a mercury tablet (in 210 BC) Original). However, recently the health problems caused by poisoning during mining and production became prominent due to livelihood needs and lawsuits around.