An article entitled "Emergency Exposure of Scientists! The article "Things that Chinese people use every day actually contain horrible carcinogens" has been widely forwarded recently. This article points out that a household necessity that everyone never imagined — — Energy-saving light bulbs are actually a super cancer source that induces a variety of cancers.
On the premise of achieving the same lighting effect, energy-saving lamps consume only 1/5 of ordinary incandescent lamps, but their life span is 6 times. It is precisely because of this advantage that energy-saving lamps are being popularized all over the world. However, the discussion about its security has never stopped.
It is understood that at present, energy-saving lamps occupy half of the lighting market in China. So is the energy-saving lamp so widely used really a carcinogenic culprit lurking around people?
Can ultraviolet radiation of energy-saving lamps cause skin cancer?
The lamp tube is made of soft glass, and it is difficult to emit ultraviolet rays.
The article circulated in the circle of friends pointed out that the researchers found that when the human body is exposed to energy-saving lamps, the skin cells will be seriously damaged, while the human skin cells placed under the old ordinary light bulbs will not be damaged.
By consulting relevant materials, the reporter found that the relevant articles of this experiment were published in the 2013 American Science Life. The article said: "The ultraviolet radiation released by energy-saving lamps may damage human skin cells, lead to premature aging and even lead to fatal skin cancer." However, the reporter noticed that the research mentioned in the article used skin cells soaked in Petri dishes and cultured in vitro, unlike cells on our bodies, which were protected by epidermis. Secondly, the skin cells were irradiated by energy-saving lamps with short distance (2.5 cm), long time and large radiation. Some experts analyzed that this was far from the actual situation in life.
"I haven’t seen this experiment carefully, but at least this research seems to be not very rigorous." Zhou Taiming, a consultant to the Expert Working Committee of China Lighting Society and a professor at Fudan University, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter on December 3 that the energy-saving lamp is actually a compact fluorescent lamp with its own ballast. After electrifying, the mercury atoms in the lamp tube release invisible ultraviolet rays, which hit the phosphor coating on the inner wall of the lamp body and then turn into visible white light. This way of using ultraviolet light to emit light can convert more electric energy into light energy, thus achieving the purpose of saving electricity.
"The test results of authoritative testing institutions at home and abroad show that the ultraviolet radiation of lamps only accounts for six thousandths of the power." Zhou Taiming said that the ultraviolet power of the 15-watt energy-saving lamp is only 0.09 watt. "Moreover, the long-wave ultraviolet rays in the energy-saving lamp will not penetrate the dermis of the human body."
"In the past, many hospitals installed two lamps in their rooms, one for lighting and the other for ultraviolet disinfection." A light source detection technician who is not convenient to be named explained, "The lamp tube of this ultraviolet disinfection lamp is made of Shi Ying glass, just to let ultraviolet rays penetrate more for sterilization, while the energy-saving lamps are all made of soft glass, and ultraviolet rays are difficult to come out."
Zhou Taiming emphasized that generally speaking, as long as it is a qualified energy-saving lamp, it will meet the standard of "Photobiological Safety of Lamps and Lamp Systems" in China, and the amount of ultraviolet radiation will be controlled within a safe range without causing harm to the human body.
Mercury in energy-saving lamps can kill people?
Hundreds of them can be broken at the same time in a small confined space, which may cause harm.
The above article also points out that energy-saving light bulbs contain a highly toxic substance — — Mercury, once the human body inhales 2.5 grams of this substance, it will lead to death.
Li Zili, director of the lighting room of Guangdong Institute of Product Quality Supervision and Inspection, said: "Mercury is toxic, which is true. The article says that 2.5 grams will kill people, which may be correct. However, there are only a few milligrams of mercury in an energy-saving lamp, and it is sealed in the lamp. Even if the lamp is broken, hundreds of lamps will be broken at the same time, and it is only in a very small closed environment that all of them are inhaled by one person, which may cause harm to people. But what are the chances of this happening in reality?
Researcher Li Jinmin, executive chairman of R&D of the National Semiconductor Lighting Engineering and Industry Alliance and director of the State Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Lighting Joint Innovation, bluntly said that everyone knows that mercury is a harmful substance, and energy-saving lamps do contain mercury. However, at present, most energy-saving lamps are produced with low-mercury or micro-mercury technology to reduce the amount of mercury, and China’s low-mercury or micro-mercury technology is leading the world. "Now there is less than 4 mg of mercury in a low-mercury energy-saving lamp."
"In recent years, due to the improvement of production technology and the promotion of policies, the mercury in fluorescent lamps has changed from liquid mercury to solid mercury, which greatly reduces the possibility of harm to human body." Zhou Taiming said.
During the interview, experts all said that in fact, the greater harm of mercury is environmental pollution. Li Jinmin mentioned that there was a serious mercury pollution incident in Minamata, Japan in the middle of the 20th century. In January 2013, the United Nations Environment Programme adopted the Minamata Convention, an international convention aimed at controlling and reducing mercury emissions on a global scale, and made detailed provisions on the specific emission limitation scope to reduce the harm caused by mercury to the environment and human health. In April 2016, the 20th meeting of the 12th the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) of China decided to ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which requires the contracting parties to ban the production, import and export of mercury-containing products from 2020.
Will electricity release a variety of carcinogens?
Experts say they haven’t heard that energy-saving lamps will release harmful substances such as naphthalene.
In addition to pointing out that mercury in energy-saving lamps can cause death, articles circulating in friends circle also indicate that energy-saving lamps can induce breast cancer, prostate cancer and other cancers. The article wrote: "Scientists in the laboratory of Alab in Germany explained that the energy-saving light bulbs used by people not only contain mercury, but also release a variety of carcinogens, such as phenol, when the light bulbs are powered on, and the heat and steam generated by the energy-saving light bulbs will release some terrible toxins, including naphthalene and styrene."
In fact, the study mentioned in this article was reported in 2013. Most domestic media quoted an article in the British Daily Telegraph. However, through the relevant information in the text, the reporter did not retrieve the original text.
"We have never heard that energy-saving lamps will release these toxic substances." Zhou Taiming said. In 2005, the article "Research Report on the Use of Harmful Substances in Electric Light Source Products" published in the sixth issue of China Lighting Appliances mainly discussed the potential hazards and countermeasures of mercury, lead and arsenic, but did not talk about other harmful substances.
Some people are worried about the electromagnetic radiation of energy-saving lamps. The National Electric Light Source Quality Supervision and Inspection Center (Shanghai) responded as early as 2012. They used a metal ball with a diameter of 30 cm to simulate a person’s head, and placed the energy-saving lamp 30 cm away from the metal ball to measure the intensity of induced current generated by the electromagnetic field radiated by the energy-saving lamp, and found that it did not exceed the limit specified by the standard. (Reporter Cao Xiuying)
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How to choose energy-saving lamps more safely
Experts said that although the energy-saving lamps contain mercury and have little ultraviolet radiation, there is no need to panic within the acceptable range of ordinary people.
If you want to be more secure, you can do the following:
① When buying, please look for regular manufacturers in regular channels, and don’t buy unqualified products for low prices.
② When using, it is better to be more than 20 cm away from the energy-saving lamp.
③ Avoid direct contact with damaged energy-saving lamps. If you accidentally break the energy-saving lamp, don’t touch the debris directly with your hands. You can wear rubber gloves to pick it up, seal it with plastic bags and discard it, and keep the room ventilated for more than 15 minutes.
(4) Don’t throw waste energy-saving lamps at will. It’s best to concentrate them through formal channels for proper disposal to avoid environmental pollution.
