Hideous Absurdity
The wealthy and technically advanced countries of the world have decided to fight global warming, natural or manmade, using the best that modern science and technology offers us in our puny efforts to make a difference. We have embraced the notion of using less energy with energy-efficient lightbulbs, replacing our old energy-hogging incandescents with the miniature fluorescent variety and feeling pretty smug about our cleverness.Yes, we have been advised that these clever new energy savers are not to be disposed of other than as hazardous waste, as they contain minuscule amounts of mercury. Mercury, evidently, is required to initiate the chemical reaction creating light in this type of light bulb. Mercury, as almost everyone knows, is a dangerous substance, however its guise, and must be disposed of properly. Mercury ingestion is capable of producing dire illnesses in people.
Mercury poisoning can cause something called Chisso Minamata disease, a neurological syndrome whose symptoms include numbness in the extremities, muscle weakness, damage to vision, hearing and speech. Worst case scenarios include insanity, paralysis, coma and death, in fairly short order. Minamata disease was first identified over fifty years ago in the city of Minamata, Japan. A chemical bioaccumulation of this toxic agent in fish and shellfish caused mercury poisoning when consumed by the local population.
Countries around the world began to look more closely at industrially-polluted waterways where mercury and other harmful metals and chemicals were often dumped into sewers and lakes resulting in dire health outcomes for local populations. Now, mercury contamination appears to have come full circle, with industrial workers in China being subjected to mercury poisoning as a result of working in factories producing the 'green' light bulbs that first-world countries celebrate for their progress in cleaning up environmental pollution.
Foreign demand for the compact fluorescent bulbs has ratcheted up production in China, the country that no other country is able to match for cheap production, industriousness and low prices. Mercury mines, once blamed for the degradation of the environment, have been re-opened in remote parts of China. This friend-of-the-earth technology has morphed into a new threat posing as a friend-of-the-grim-reaper for workers in southern China, labouring overtime to provide consumers in the west with their green fix.
Medical examinations and tests reveal that workers in many sub-grade factories in China have excessive mercury levels in their blood; some up to 150 times the accepted standard. How's that for sacrificing workers from second-level economies to accelerate the lifestyles of people from first-level economies?
Labels: China, Environment, Technology
posted by Pieface @ Monday, May 04, 2009
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