Gov’t urged to ensure fluorescent lamps have warning labels

MANILA, Philippines - The government was   urged to ensure that compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and other lamps containing mercury in the market bear mercury warning labels.

In a letter to the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Trade and Industry and Energy, the EcoWaste Coalition and 17 other groups said lamps must carry “Contains Mercury” warning on product labels.

Thony Dizon, coordinator of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect, said mercury is a potent neurotoxin of special concern for the brain development in unborn and growing children, and also for consumers or workers, particularly waste handlers and informal recyclers, who may be exposed to mercury vapor from broken or crushed lamps. 

“Consumers have the right to know that fluorescent lamps and other kinds of lamps contain mercury and should be handled with extreme caution, from the point of purchase to disposal, to avoid breakage and release of mercury vapor,” he said.

The greens said busted or spent mercury-added lamps are considered hazardous waste under Republic Act 6969, the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act, and classified as “special waste” under RA 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

It requires special management and disposal separate from ordinary trash, they added.

Based on a recent market monitoring  conducted by EcoWaste Coalition, all the 12 brands of CFLs bought from major supermarkets and hardware stores contain no mercury warning labels, and none provided information about the amount of mercury each product contains.

While providing energy efficiency information and other labeling requirements, the CFLs may be deemed mislabeled under RA 7394 for failing to provide mercury warning information and other pertinent facts, the groups observed.

Citing RA 7394’s Article 91, the group said a product containing hazardous substances is deemed mislabeled if it fails to state conspicuously the common name of the chemical contributing to its harmfulness and the signal word “warning” or “caution.”

The said law  requires “a clear statement as to the possible injury it may cause if used improperly,” “precautionary measures describing the action to be followed or avoided,” “instructions for handling and storage,” and the words “keep out of reach of children,” among other requirements.