LED lights vs fluorescent lights (safe?)

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1

Hello,

fluorescent lights (eg the new CFLs) contain mercury and present a toxic hazard to humans. or do they?

However, a recent court case in UK has proven that Mercury is not in fact very poisonous at all….

Between January and April 2009, William Dowling (69) of Colne, Lancashire , UK gave his ex-wife (Maureen) a cup of tea once a week, and he laced this tea with mercury.

His unsuspecting wife, Maureen, drank the tea and even remembers seeing silver globules in the bottom of the cup.

Maureen and the daughters eventually informed the police who raided William Dowling’s house and caught him red-handed trying to hide a pot of mercury.

They also found a coffee jar laced with mercury. William Dowling confessed to administering Mercury into his wife’s tea over the four months.

Maureen said that she had become ill with nausea and memory loss………however, the court declared that Maureen’s illness was not likely to have been caused by the Mercury.

Willam Dowling was let off with a one year suspended jail sentence and is pictured in the Daily Express, 29th August 2009, page 17, with a huge smile on his face , walking free from court.

This Lady, Maureen, who drank Mercury for four months , is living proof that Mercury is not in fact very poisonous at all.

All I say is Rest-In-Peace mass mains lighting with LEDs.

Not only is LED’s competitor,( fluorescent lights containing Mercury), not very toxic, but LED lights need bigger heatsinks, are more reliant on electrolytic capacitors, and LEDs are more expensive.

Can we finally lay to rest the onset of domestic mains LED lighting?

2

I assume you’re not serious? Mercury has been known for some time to cause numerous heath problems, including brain damage; I’m not sure why a court would find otherwise, but I suspect there were some serious mental health issues for the perpetrator to have done what he did…

I guess the method of administering the mercury would have meant that not much would have been absorbed by the body (it would have just stayed in the bottom of the coffee cup). CFL lamps containing mercury generally release it in vapor form, which is far more readily absorbed by the body if breathed in.

I’m not personally a fan of either LED or CFL for general home illumination, but think LEDs will eventually be almost universal.

3

So one article in your sensational English press says that mercury is now safe? In my mind, it doesn’t change hundreds of years of people being poisoned by mercury. But I suggest you help yourself to a couple heaping spoonfuls every morning and report back to us how you’re feeling.