Interesting Facts

Low energy light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury. (Official advice from the Department of the Environment states that if a low-energy bulb is smashed, the room needs to be vacated for at least 15 minutes.)

Millions of homes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland turned off their lights for five minutes at 8 p.m.

powered by ODEO 23,000 people in the UK suffer from photosensitivity. (This means that flashes, strobe lights and flickering images, typically at rates of 16 to 25 times a second but as low as three and as high as 60, can trigger an epileptic fit. A Pot Noodle advert in 1993 sparked three reports of seizures and prompted concern and a ban on the advert. But in Japan in 1997 more than 600 children were admitted to hospital after suffering epileptic seizures after watching a Pokemon cartoon. More recently in the UK 18 people reported ill effects after watching an animation to launch the London 2012 Olympics.)

There are around 200 million incandescent, tungsten filament light bulbs sold each year in the UK. (However, its days are numbered. There are plans to phase it out by 2011 in favour of energy-saving bulbs. Suffice to say I'm well ahead of them.)