Effects of Using Fluorescent and Compact Fluorescent Lamps on Environment and Health-A Critical View

Atif Iqbal*, Amith Khandakar**, Mohammad Shafiul Islam***, Nasser Basheer Ahmad****
* Full Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
** Faculty Member, Department of Electrical Engineering, Qatar University, Qatar
*** Electrical Engineer, MEP Company, Qatar
**** Senior Under Graduate Student, Department of Electrical Engineering, Qatar University, Qatar.
Periodicity:May - July'2015
DOI : https://doi.org/10.26634/jfet.10.4.3476

Abstract

Wide spread adoption of Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) as lighting lamps in residential and industrial sectors are posing challenges to the environment and also carries some health issues and risks. This paper presents a critical overview on related environmental factors and health risks due to lighting lamps especially Fluorescent lamps and CFL. Although CFLs are increasingly popular in the household and industrial lightings due to significant energy savings, however, these issues such as power quality, environment and health risks need to be analyzed critically. The aim of this paper is to make people aware about risks of using FLs and CFLs and not to stigmatize the utilization of these light sources. The CFLs hold very tiny quantities of mercury per lamp. Production plants and disposal facilities of CFLs are releasing mercury to the environment and hence posing environmental challenges that require proper management. In addition, it is found that people working in the CFLs manufacturing facilities suffer from some diseases. Due to the massive number of CFLs used around the world, it is considered as a major source of mercury. If CFLs are not recycled in an ecologically sound manner, after the breakage of CFLs, the inhalation of mercury vapor would cause health risks to human beings, especially infants and children. A detailed discussion on these issues is presented in this paper.

Keywords

Lighting systems, Compact Fluorescent lamps, Power Quality, Mercury Concentration, Health Risks due to Mercury

How to Cite this Article?

Iqbal, A., Khandakar, A., Islam, M. S., and Ahmad, N. B. (2015). Effects of Using Fluorescent and Compact Fluorescent Lamps on Environment and Health-A Critical View. i-manager’s Journal on Future Engineering and Technology, 10(4), 28-37. https://doi.org/10.26634/jfet.10.4.3476

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