Manufacturers To Label Mercury Fluorescent Lamps
Fluorescent lamp makers, required by Vermont law to label all lamps sold in state containing mercury, announced plans on Wednesday for “a nationwide program to label fluorescent and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps that contain mercury, as well as their packaging.”
After passage of the Vermont mercury law in 1998, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), a trade group representing lamp makers, filed a lawsuit arguing that the Vermont law violated the Commerce Clause as well as other Constitutional provisions.
NEMA court documents stated that lamps sales in Vermont accounted for less than $2 million worth of fluorescent lamps purchased each year, representing a tiny percentage of lamp sales nationally – and questioned how “tiny Vermont” would “purport to dictate worldwide lamp labeling requirements.”
While NEMA won the first court round, they lost in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and again when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear their case, setting the stage for NEMA’s announcement on Wednesday.
“A harmonized national label is the only labeling approach that makes sense,” said NEMA president Malcolm O’Hagan in a prepared statement. “Lamp manufacturers make their products for national and international markets and do not control the distribution system. Disposal requirements vary greatly across local, state, and international boundaries, making anything other than a national label impractical.”
Lamp makers are now expected to label an estimated 600 million lamps – and their packaging – sold nationwide each year. By November 30, all lamp makers selling their products in Vermont are required to provide a website and toll free number for consumers to obtain information on recycling and proper management of spend light bulbs.
Manufacturers will also spend $10,000 a year for two years to help educate Vermonters to keep lamps from being broken or thrown in the trash.
While advocates noted that the lamp makers commitment was a step forward, they questioned why they do not label lamps worldwide.
“It’s nice to see that lamp makers have finally seen the light,” said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project, who helped drafted the Vermont legislation and win its passage. “Yet we question the practicality of only labeling lamps sold nationally based on NEMA’s own statement that lamp makers sell to ‘international markets and do not control the distribution system.’ Because mercury is both a local and global pollutant, we urge lamp makers to recognize their responsibility and label all lamps worldwide to reduce mercury pollution – and exposure to mercury – both at home and abroad.”
Provided by theEnvironmental News Service.
