Most people are absolutely clueless about just how toxic mercury is. It is toxic at one in one billion-part quantities which is about the same concentration as one grain of salt in a swimming pool.

The following letter was written by Valeria, one of our sauna customers in Vancouver who has agreed to share her story in the hopes it will help others avoid health problems caused by the CFL lights in their homes. Fortunately, she has owned her Sunlight far- infrared sauna since November, 2007 which has helped her continually process the ongoing mercury exposure out of her body. She continues to regain her strength daily. 

August 2, 2008

Recently, we had a huge wake-up call when we decided to back-track to see what might have caused my sudden fall into chronic fatigue and exhaustion of body and mind wherein I am virtually house-bound and often bed/chair bound.  AND INEXPLICABLY GETTING WORSE BY THE DAY - despite expert medical care.

We realized that I had started to slow down in November 2006 and then suddenly came to a dead stop in December 2006.

When we reviewed my activity level before DEC 2006 - I recalled being quite physically active for 10-15 hours a day of normal daily activity - gardening, cleaning, marketing PLUS packing, moving, cleaning and painting 4000 sq. ft. of the new house and garage.

Then SUDDENLY, I couldn’t lift the laundry basket, I couldn’t finish painting the laundry room, I couldn’t make the bed, I couldn’t lift a pot, I couldn’t lift my arms.  I was drawn to just curl up and rest throughout most days.  My work piled up and while my mind made plans my body couldn’t keep up. Simultaneously my right arm went into constant agonizing pain and I thought I had dislocated my shoulder.

So, I started my march through the medical specialists and ended up being treated for CFS (chronic fatigue syndrome), unnecessary inflammation and unfriendly bacteria - since July 2007.  Yet, while on the treatment - I was still fatigued and actually feeling worse every day - not typical of others on the protocol.  And where others quickly lost surplus weight - I was gaining weight as if my body needed even more padding to protect me from something.

Intermingled with my back-tracking, it just happened that James needed to dispose of a ‘curly energy saving fluorescent light bulb’ and found out that they cannot be disposed of in the garbage DUE TO THE MERCURY CONTENT.  In searching the internet for directions he discovered SOME SHOCKING NEWS that showed the ENORMOUS DANGER POSED BY THESE BULBS.

I was NEVER drawn to them in the first place (instinct) and always opposed having them being installed in the house.  And while I justified my instinct to be because of the glaring unpleasant light they give off - I NOW realize that there was something more sinister occurring that triggered my ‘caution signal’.

But, James changed every light bulb in our 4000 sq. ft. residence and installed CFLs (compact fluorescent lights) into EVERY LIGHT SOCKET.  He even special ordered a candelabra type of bulb from the US to fit some fixtures.  His mind had been tricked into believing the energy/money saving technology propaganda.

He actually completed his installation of these new government sanctioned energy saving bulbs as of December 2006 - ALMOST EXACTLY AT THE TIME I SUDDENLY BECAME SICK.

Here we are 19 months later and the internet is teeming with STARTLING information about the DANGER posed by these bulbs and the suggestion that many of them have a slow mercury leak into their environment.  Other testing shows that once they have been initially used they continuously release a toxin from the surface of the bulb whether on or off.  Not to mention the electromagnetic interference with the body’s natural function (new studies are shocking).

On the weekend of 19/20JUL08 James removed every light bulb in our home and replaced them with the old incandescent bulbs.  Immediately the ambiance of our home was softer and more pleasant - AND the energy changed from intense and friction-filled to palpable peaceful.

We celebrated our success for a few hours - but then we faced the worse part when James took the over 30 dangerous, mercury emitting, used CFLs to the disposal acceptance box at Ikea.  As he dropped each bulb individually through the small hole, he quickly became sweaty (as if his body was reacting to something) started coughing (choking), and experienced sudden runny nose (as if the membrane inside his nose was sweating).  By the time we got home, he was experiencing severe muscle weakness throughout his body and especially in his arms.

It appears that when he dropped the bulbs off at the Ikea disposal centre the air was so filled with mercury from broken bulbs that he became contaminated - and despite him wearing a mouth cover and rubber gloves while he exchanged the bulbs at out home, and him stripping his clothes directly into the washer - his body had become saturated and toxic at the drop-off depot.

Throughout the next day he was dead tired despite sleeping late and resting in his chair most of Sunday.  He was too ill with sore throat, severe headache, nausea and all-body muscle weakness to go to work on Monday or Tuesday and was home early Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and into bed. He has mostly recovered now due to filling himself with chelated minerals of magnesium and calcium and taking lots of infrared saunas and showers.

Despite his continued and conscientious effort to release the toxins from his body – as he breathed, sneezed and coughed into our common air space and I breathed the air - I too got a runny nose, extremely sore throat, scratchy eyes, dizziness and intense sharp pains in my forehead.

It is now 02 AUG 08, and while the consequences of disposal contamination are slowly wearing off and I am also taking chelated minerals - I am a new person as far as my energy return (or, might I say I am back to my old personage).  I can carry the laundry up and down the stairs without having to take a rest midway.  And I can carry several of those in one day and even within one hour.  And I do not feel attacked in every room - AND all the pain in my right arm (the arm that laid next to my lamp every night while I slept) has completely disappeared.
For more information about CFL dangers visit any of these websites:

http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=aa7796aa-e4a5-4c06-be84-b62dee548fda

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/fluorescentlightspromotion02may07.shtml

http://naturalmomstalkradio.com/blog/concerns-over-fluorescent-lights/