Eco-friendly bulbs loaded with lead, arsenic

Eco-friendly bulbs loaded with lead, arsenic


February 10th, 2011, 9:50 am · 57 Comments · posted by Pat Brennan, science, environment editor

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LED holiday lights. Register file photo.

The LED bulbs sold as safe and eco-friendly can contain high levels of lead, arsenic and other hazardous substances, a new UC Irvine study shows — the same bulbs widely used in headlights, traffic lights, even holiday lights.



The toxic material could increase the risk of cancer, kidney disease and other illnesses, although the risks are more long-term than immediate; a single exposure to a broken bulb is unlikely to cause illness.



“I wouldn’t worry about an immediate release of vapor,” said UC Irvine public health and social ecology professor Oladele Ogunseitan, principal investigator and an author of the study. “But still, when these residues hang around the house, if not cleaned up properly they could constitute an eventual danger.”



The lights should be treated as hazardous materials, and should not be disposed of in regular landfill trash, he said, because of the risk of leaching into soil and groundwater.



High intensity, red bulbs contained the most arsenic, while low-intensity red lights harbored as much as eight times the amount of lead permitted by state law, the study showed.



White bulbs had low amounts of lead but higher amounts of nickel, also a potentially hazardous substance.



Ogunseitan and a team of scientists from UCI and UC Davis crushed bulbs of different colors and intensity, simulating acid rain in landfill conditions to produce a “worst case scenario.” Then they made precision measurements of toxic material in the resulting liquid.



Although immediate risk from a broken bulb is low, Ogunseitan still advises consumers to wear a mask and gloves and use a special broom when sweeping up the pieces. Emergency crews also should use protective equipment when dealing with car crashes and broken traffic lights, and should consider the material hazardous waste, Ogunseitan said.



And while LED or light-emitting diode bulbs are marketed as a safer replacement for compact fluorescent bulbs, which contain mercury, Ogunseitan, also a member of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control’s “green ribbon” science panel, said consumers should be careful that they’re not “exchanging one risk for another.”



“We want to make sure we don’t get carried away with the no-mercury thing,” Ogunseitan said. “That is why finding these other potentially toxic chemicals is important.”



A state law that would have required advanced testing of such products was weakened, he said. Then it was place on hold by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shortly before he left office.



He said the law is under review, and that he hopes it will be revived within a year.



Ogunseitan and his team recently published their findings in the science journal, Environmental Science and Technology, and plan to publish further findings on larger LED bulbs such as those used in street lights.



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Posted in: Ain't that interesting? • UCI science news • arsenic • holiday lights • lead • LED lights