CFL revolution in Kerala

The State of Kerala is to witness a new revolution called CFL revolution. The State Power Minister A K Balan has decided to issue four CFLs to every household at a throw-away price of Rs.15 and thereby to earn 500MW of power every year. However his company has not considered the drawback of CFL usage.

Online sources say that there are disadvantages to CFL bulbs. Some people don’t like the light that they give off. They can make some colors look slightly different than when the same colors are viewed under incandescent lights. The throw pattern isn’t always the same as an incandescent bulb either. Their wattage ratings don’t match up one to one with traditional bulbs because the wattage refers to energy used, not the amount of light it gives off. Also, all fluorescent bulbs contain mercury which is toxic. They can’t be tossed in most landfills and these things can really do some damage to the environment if they are broken open. The CFL contained mercury, with prolonged exposure, can cause problems in brain function and development. Like lead, we need to handle mercury carefully and limit our and our children’s exposure to it. It has been experimentally proved that repeated CFL breakages and repeated mercury exposure can indeed cause serious problems. Broken CFL is a toxic waste and the local authorities are to be checked with on how we should dispose of hazardous materials and damaged compact fluorescent bulbs. The toxic materials should be removed from our regular living area as soon as possible.

So, the power minister’s CFL revolution without any initial home work would bring adverse effect in the long run.

K A Solaman