"O que parece ser uma boa notícia", como aqui se alertava em Março de 2007, demonstra tão bem a democracia europeia: "Nowhere is the bureaucratic influence of European government agencies as powerful as in the delirium of energy efficiency.
"The EU has made a decision without consulting citizens and, in doing so, it has massively intervened in our quality of life," says [Rudolf] Hannot, the light-bulb activist. This paternalism and lack of transparency almost aggravates him more than doing without the stronger, warmer light of incandescent light bulbs. The makers of the documentary film "Bulb Fiction" even speculate that the European light-bulb lobby, including major companies like Philips and Osram, are behind the demise of the cheaper incandescent light bulb given the much larger profit margins associated with more expensive energy-saving light bulbs."
O documentário Bulb Fiction (aqui, em alemão) mereceu uma declaração de peritos da Comissão Europeia que, entre outras coisas, confirma a existência de (pouco) mercúrio nestas fantásticas lâmpadas: "the content of mercury in those lamps is very low and adverse health effects from exposure to mercury after accidental breakage of the lamps are not expected".
Mas, como cita a Der Spiegel, "for chemist Michael Braungart, the new products are "a crime" owing to the highly toxic mercury they contain. "In the name of protecting the environment, the EU is forcing its citizens to bring toxic waste into their homes," says Braungart, who calls the legislation "perverse."
In a 2010 study, the German Federal Environment Agency (BMU) concluded that if one of the bulbs is accidentally broken, it is sufficient to simply open the windows and air out the space. But even if the bulbs are not broken, disposal is problematic. Since the EU does not require retailers to take back the bulbs, 80 percent end up in household garbage, leaving the mercury to ultimately seep into the soil or groundwater."
E, assim, as tais lâmpadas ecológicas vão mercurizar os solos ou o lençol freático. Parabéns, eurodeputados. Brilhante, para usar uma linguagem mais iluminada.
(imagem daqui)
