CFLs are Good and Bad, Seven Gen Student Says

Special to Emmaus Patch by Forest Ealey

How would you feel if you were a deer lying on the ground with nobody to help you because somebody littered a broken Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL)? You have to suffer on the ground alone, get sick, and die because the CFL has mercury inside it, which can cause brain tumors. Mercury is toxic to humans and wildlife. I think light bulb makers should make a CFL without mercury because it still could save energy but can’t harm humans and wildlife.

CFLs are not like incandescent light bulbs. CFLs have tubes which hold the mercury. An incandescent light bulb has no tubes or mercury. A CFL looks like a slinky. An incandescent light bulb looks like a pumpkin. The mercury inside a CFL makes it last longer and saves energy. An incandescent light bulb has no mercury so it doesn’t save energy and doesn’t last long.

What makes a CFL dangerous is the mercury inside. Mercury is even dangerous outside of a CFL. It’s bad for people. For example, if they breathe in the mercury they can get a brain tumor. Mercury is bad for wildlife because if mercury gets in their drinking water they’ll die.

Even though CFLs save energy, they’re still bad for the environment. They harm wildlife and humans. I think we should use solar power light bulbs because they take energy from the sun to power it. Or we could use incandescent light bulbs because they do not contain mercury. It’s not worth people getting sick just to save energy.

As you can see, I think light bulb makers should make a CFL without mercury because it still could save energy but can’t harm humans and wildlife. Make sure you use solar power or incandescent light bulbs unless you can find CFLs without mercury.

Forest Ealey, of Macungie, is a currently a 4th grade student at Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus. Ealey's class has been studying household hazardous waste and the students wrote opinion articles on the topic.