PrintCFL bulbs cause skin damage
Yes, but think of all the energy we'll be saving.
New research funded by the National Science Foundation has scientists warning consumers about the potentially harmful effects energy-saving CFL light bulbs can have on skin.
The warning comes based on a study conducted by Stony Brook University and New York State Stem Cell Science - published in the June issue of Photochemistry and Photobiology - which looked at whether and how the invisible UV rays CFL bulbs emit affect the skin.
Based on the research, scientists concluded that CFL light bulbs can be harmful to healthy skin cells.
"Our study revealed that the response of healthy skin cells to UV emitted from CFL bulbs is consistent with damage from ultraviolet radiation," said lead researcher Miriam Rafailovich, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Stony Brook University, in New York, in a statement. "Skin cell damage was further enhanced when low dosages of TiO2 nanoparticles were introduced to the skin cells prior to exposure."
According to Rafailovich, with or without TiO2 (a chemical found in sunblock), incandescent bulbs of the same light intensity had zero effects on healthy skin.
The scientists found that cracks in the CFL bulbs phosphor coatings yielded significant levels of UVC and UVA in all of the bulbs - purchased in different locations across two counties - they examined.
With high levels of ultraviolet radiation present, the researchers delved into how the exposure affected the skin. According to the findings, skin damage from exposure to CFLs was consistent with harm caused by ultraviolet radiation.
Where's the Consumer Products Safety Commission? Where's the Federal Trade Commission? Where's the FDA, OSHA, and any and all federal agencies, commissions, boards, panels, and roundtables that are supposed to protect us from products like this?
Are they trying to tell us that they are shoving these CFL bulbs down our throats and they never thoroughly tested their effects on human beings?
We might save the planet by using these low light, highly toxic bulbs -- a dubious premise but let's humor the greens on this one. But the human beings on the planet don't seem to rate as high a priority on the saving list. It takes a special kind of stupidity - or willful blindness - to carry off something like this. And the greens and their allies in government have it in spades.
