Andreas Kirchner, of the Federation of German Engineers, said: “Electrical smog develops around these lamps.

Phenol, a mildly acidic toxic white crystalline solid, obtained from coal  tar and used in chemical manufacture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenol).

Naphthalene, a volatile white crystalline compound, produced by the distillation of coal tar, used in mothballs and as a raw material for chemical manufacture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphth...).

Styrene, an unsaturated liquid hydrocarbon, obtained as a petroleum byproduct (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Styrene).

Please sign the petition to tell our Government that we don't want these light bulbs in our stories because they are a danger to our health.

http://www.change.org/petitions/us-congress-state-legislators-manufacturers-are-compact-fluorescent-bulbs-safe-cancer

"I, therefore, use them only very economically. They should not be used in unventilated areas and definitely not in the proximity of the head.”

British experts insisted that more research was needed and urged consumers not to panic.

Dr Michelle Bloor, senior lecturer in Environmental Science at Portsmouth University, told the Daily Express: “Further independent studies would need to be undertaken to back up the presented German research.”

The Department for the Environment insists the bulbs are safe, despite the fact that they contain small amounts of mercury which would leak out if the glass was broken.

Advice on its website states: “Energy efficient light bulbs are not a danger to the public.

“Although they contain mercury, limited at 5mg per lamp, it cannot escape from a lamp that is intact.

“In any case, the very small amount contained in an energy efficient bulb is unlikely to cause harm even if the lamp should be broken.”

The latest report follows claims by Abraham Haim, a professor of biology at Haifa University in Israel, that the bulbs could result in higher breast cancer rates if used late at night.

What a dilemma for Americans. Following a 2007 bill signed into law by President George W. Bush, the US government will ban the sale of 100 watt traditional incandescent light bulbs and replace them with toxic  CFLs by January 1, 2012, followed by the 75-watt version in Jan. 2013, and the 60- and 40-watt bulbs in Jan. 2014. This will follow on the heels of the Europeans who began to phase out incandescent bulbs in 2009 and by 2016 the EU also plans to ban halogen bulbs, forcing people to use compact fluorescent's.

Please sign the petition to tell our Government that we don't want these light bulbs in our stories because they are a danger to our health.

http://www.change.org/petitions/us-congress-state-legislators-manufacturers-are-compact-fluorescent-bulbs-safe-cancer