(HH here: this is the result of “feel good” Liberal legislation. The “Who cares if it is stupid, we are DOING SOMETHING …. Koombaya my Lord, Koombaya” crowd….pardon me, I get a bit disgusted when “compassionate Liberals” promote death and destruction out of their sight to cleanse their consciences of the shame of not being a born in the Third World. Fascism comes in all stripes and colors. This is the Green variety. Take note fellow heretics:)
‘Green’ light bulbs poison hundreds of workers in China
4 May 2009, 0040 hrs IST, Sunday Times, London
When British consumers are compelled to buy energy-efficient light bulbs from 2012, they will save up to 5 million tons of carbon dioxide a year
from being pumped into the atmosphere. In China, however, a heavy environmental price is being paid for the production of “green” light bulbs in cost-cutting factories.
Large numbers of workers have been poisoned by mercury, which forms part of the fluorescent light bulbs.
A surge in foreign demand, set off by an EU directive making these bulbs compulsory within three years, has also led to the reopening of mercury mines that have ruined the environment of a remote and beautiful part of China.
Doctors, regulators, lawyers and courts in China are increasingly alert to the potential impacts on public health of an industry that promotes itself as a friend of the earth but depends on highly toxic mercury for its core product. Making the bulbs requires workers to handle mercury in either solid or liquid form because a small amount of the metal is put into each bulb to start the chemical reaction that creates light.
Mercury is recognised as a health hazard worldwide because its accumulation in the body can damage the nervous system, lungs and kidneys, posing a major threat to babies in the womb and young children.
In southern China, compact fluorescent light bulbs destined for western consumers are being made in factories that range from hi-tech multinational operations to sweatshops.
Tests on hundreds of employees have found dangerously high levels of mercury in their bodies, especially in the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou.
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Hundreds of workers at these factories have been poisoned by mercury over the past decade. In one case, Foshan city officials intervened to order medical tests on workers at a major lighting factory. The tests found that 68 out of 72 workers were so badly poisoned they required hospitalisation.
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