WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, as Wal-Mart made another announcement regarding its plan to sell compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's), WakeUpWalMart.com and the Center for Environmental Health called on the company to "do the right thing" and adopt a national recycling program to help lessen the mercury threat posed by these bulbs.
In statements released today, both the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) and WakeUpWalMart.com cautioned that Wal-Mart needs to address the risks of mercury exposure from the disposal of CFLs, preferably by insuring that consumers can return used bulbs for recycling. If CFL's are disposed of improperly, mercury exposure can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus, with potential damage to vision, hearing, and memory. In addition, children are especially sensitive to mercury, and women exposed during pregnancy have greater risks of having children with developmental problems, including mental retardation, lack of coordination, and delays in learning to walk and talk.
As background, in January 2007, Wal-Mart announced it had set a goal of selling 100 million compact fluorescent bulbs this year. But, even after two months, Wal-Mart has refused to adopt a national recycling program to deal with the serious environmental threat posed by the mercury content contained in the CFL's.
Without a national recycling program, Wal-Mart's efforts to sell 100 million CFL's could result in the spreading of an estimated 227,273 pounds of mercury into American households.
In addition, Wal-Mart has not publicly committed to selling only low mercury fluorescent light bulbs. In fact, the fluorescent light bulbs available for sale at Wal-Mart have a higher mercury content than similar fluorescent light bulbs available for sale at other retailers.
In contrast, IKEA, before launching its campaign to sell fluorescent bulbs, committed to both sell only low mercury light bulbs and to create a free recycling program that helps lessen the environmental risk.
A fact sheet on the serious environmental risks posed by Wal-Mart's fluorescent light bulb initiative is available by contacting WakeUpWalMart.com.
The following statement is attributable to Chris Kofinis, communications director for WakeUpWalMart.com:
"Without question, all Americans support a cleaner environment and a higher level of energy efficiency. However, without a national recycling program, Wal-Mart's push to sell 100 million fluorescent light bulbs could pose an incredible and needless health risk to our children and our communities.
"As first exemplified by IKEA, Wal-Mart must stop delaying and immediately establish a free-of-charge recycling program. In addition, just like IKEA, we call on Wal-Mart to commit to only selling low mercury fluorescent light bulbs in order to help lessen the serious health risks to children and families posed by mercury exposure.
"If Wal-Mart is truly serious about wanting to be a good steward of the environment, then Wal-Mart will see the light and publicly commit to a national recycling program that will ensure both our environment and the public health is protected from dangerous levels of mercury."
The following statement is attributable to Michael Green, executive director of the Center for Environmental Health:
"We are glad to see Wal-Mart taking an important step toward energy efficiency, but the company needs to put a little more than 18 seconds of thought into its program. Without widely available recycling programs, disposal of these bulbs could mean more mercury near our homes, schools and playgrounds."
WakeUpWalMart.com
