The environmental danger of energy saving compact fluorescent lamps

The Professional Lighting Designers’ Association (PLDA) is a global, voluntary, non-political, professional association of architectural lighting designers and lighting consultants who are active on a national and an international scale. We have been following with great concern the numerous proposals in Australia, Ireland and worldwide to phase-out incandescent lamps (the common light bulb) and feel a responsibility to present a position that addresses the critical environmental issues related to these proposals. 

It is evident from our analysis that the true energy saving of compact fluorescent lamps is less than half of that being claimed by the manufacturers.

It is also evident from our analysis that the highly toxic mercury contained within these lamps represents a significant risk with the additional mercury reaching our ecosystem from landfill being sufficient to contaminate the entire Lake Geneva – the largest fresh water body in Europe – within eight years! 

Press conferences are to be held on this subject in London/UK and Frankfurt, Germany shortly. 

Researching, investigating, debating and reporting on this topic for PLDA: Gad Giladi, FPLDA, Kevan Shaw, PLDA, IALD.

Download Gad Giladi’s report here.

See also: www.savethebulb.org