The news this morning carries an item on the risks from mercury in energy-saving light bulbs and the extra hazards presented by handling broken bulbs.
It is right of the government's Environment Agency to draw attention to such risks. I, for one, am grateful for the reminder of the hazards of the mercury vapour and shall spread the word. However, without losing the message, I would also value proportionality.
How great a risk is this, compared to mercury wilfully injected into children and adults in government-funded vaccination programmes (e.g. influenza)? How great a risk is it compared to a lifetime of government-funded exposure to mercury from mercury amalgum fillings in our teeth, still the only type of dental filling funded by the NHS? How does it relate to the amount of mercury put into the atmosphere by power stations, as they generate the extra electricity required for conventional incandescent light bulbs?
Joined-up thinking is required but where is the information we all need, to help us to make informed decisions? Where is the government's inclusive, balanced and holistic comment on the whole mercury issue? Where are the government health warnings on vaccinations and mercury fillings?
Come on, government, this is research you should have commissioned, to help you make the decisions you make. Let us all have the information, please.
Meanwhile, for info., here's a collection of varying 'takes' on the light bulb issue:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7172662.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4922496.stm
http://www.newstarget.com/022279.html
http://www.reportage.uts.edu.au/stories/2007/society/lightbulbs.html
http://www.environment.gov.au/settlements/waste/lamp-mercury.html
http://web.princeton.edu/sites/ehs/chemwaste/mercury.htm
http://www.epa.gov/hg/spills/index.htm
http://h2e-online.org/docs/h2e10stepfluorescent121802.pdf
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/18/nbulb118.xml
http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind1.htm
Why not take a look at www.alternativevet.org , while you're here?