 |
| Energy Saving Light Bulb taken by C Ford, 29 June 2004. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
As the United States bakes under the summer sun, dermatologists
often warn of cancer risks posed by ultraviolet (UV) sunlight. But
research now points to a new and ubiquitous indoor source of these
harmful rays: eco-friendly compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Scientists say they found widespread
chipping or cracking in the phosphor surface coating of nearly all the
compact fluorescent bulbs they examined, allowing UV rays to escape.
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
Brook, N.Y. "As a result, we observed, by eye, defects in nearly all the
bulbs that we studied."
No comments:
Post a Comment