The Department of Environment has introduced a ban on the sale of once federally-marketed compact fluorescent lightbulbs, as it was found the bulbs contain mercury.The bulbs were widely encouraged in Canada by elected officials and environmentalists including David Suzuki decades earlier. The bulbs were touted as climate-friendly energy savers, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “It is crucial that we continue to protect the health of Canadians. (The country must) “transition to safer alternatives,” Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said in a statement on Wednesday. A statutory ban on the sale of household bulbs with trace mercury, including tube fluorescent and screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs containing mercury, would be phased in December 31, 2025 under amendments to Products Containing Mercury Regulations. “The main objective of the regulations is to protect Canadians by lowering the risk of mercury releases into the environment from products in Canada,” the Department of Environment wrote in this week’s statement. “Mercury is a global contaminant.”Cabinet earlier promoted compact fluorescent bulbs as an energy-saving alternative to traditional, mercury-free Edison bulbs. A 2003 campaign gave away 200,000 compact fluorescents as good for the environment and drove sales to 27 million mercury bulbs a year. No mention was made of mercury pollution. The bulbs were pushed in a federal fact sheet distributed to Canadian households as “safe,” despite a “minute amount of mercury.”“Are compact fluorescent bulbs safe? Yes! They have a minute amount of mercury. If they break they do not pose a health risk,” states the pamphlet. Suzuki at the time publicly praised the products and the work the federal government was doing to distribute them. “We all have a role in protecting the health of our communities and reducing greenhouse gases,” said Suzuki.“Project Porchlight (the lightbulb distribution campaign) is accomplishing both goals one light bulb at a time.”The Department of Environment subsequently acknowledged the product was so toxic homeowners should wear gloves to clean up any broken bulbs. A 2014 federal guide on “what to do if a fluorescent light breaks,” instructs to first “remove people and pets from the room,” then “ventilate the room for 15 minutes prior to starting clean-up” and to “wear disposable gloves.”“Do not use a vacuum to clean up the initial breakage as it will spread the mercury vapour and dust,” warned the advisory. “Sweep up the broken pieces with two pieces of stiff paper,” “use sticky tape to remove any remaining glass or powder,” “place the broken glass and clean-up materials in a glass container with a tight fitting lid to further minimize the release of mercury vapour” and “immediately place waste material outside of the building in a protected area away from children.”Parliament in 2017 passed Bill C-238 An Act Respecting Development Of A National Strategy For The Safe Disposal Of Lamps Containing Mercury.“There are probably 100 million of these bulbs in Canada,” Liberal MP Darren Fisher, sponsor of the bill, said at the time.“How many people know?” “How many people, when they throw that mercury-bearing light bulb in the garbage, even give it another thought?”
