New Study Suggests LED's Could Kill You

Everyone knows that LED's are drastically more energy efficient than CFL's, but did you know they are more durable as well? Well you better be glad they are.

A new study by researchers at UC Irvine's Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention has discovered that LED's can pose a significant threat to your health if broken. It's common knowledge that CFL's contain dangerous amounts of mercury, but LED's contain lead, arsenic, copper, and a host of other toxic and environmentally taxing materials.

Inhabitat says,

“LEDs are touted as the next generation of lighting. But as we try to find better products that do not deplete energy resources or contribute to global warming, we have to be vigilant about the toxicity hazards of those marketed as replacements,” Oladele Ogunseitan said — Ogunseitan is the chair of UC Irvine’s Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention that discovered the toxins. “Every day we don’t have a law that says you cannot replace an unsafe product with another unsafe product, we’re putting people’s lives at risk,” he said. “And it’s a preventable risk.”

But is this just a snide attempt at scare tactics?

One commenter on the Inhabitat story thinks so. They say,

Aah, some researcher trying to make a name for themselves by publishing a scare piece.

This isn’t secret information, the colored lights list their elements: GaN, GaAs, etc. In order to be unhealthy, you’d have to crush them into a powder and snort them. It’s not like other bulbs that are hollow and shatter.

Sounds like they won’t be happy until there’s a light source that costs negative resources and energy to produce and self-powers forever.

I’ll take a good plan today over a perfect plan tomorrow.

What do you think?