CFL LIGHT BULBS AND CANCER
Not only do these bulbs waste energy, they are a hazardous waste, and now: CFL Light Bulbs and UV Skin Cancer Risks A study funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and published in a recent issue of the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology found widespread chipping or cracking in the phosphor surface coating of nearly all the compact fluorescent bulbs they examined. These cracks allow UV rays to escape, which would have been absorbed by the phosphor coating and converted to safe, visible light. As reported in many new services, including "HealthDay, "most of the bulbs 'have cracks in the phosphor coating, probably due to the fact that the coating is brittle and has trouble making the tight bends required to make these bulbs compact," explained study lead author Miriam Rafailovich, a professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces at Stony Brook University in Stony B...