I COMPLETELY agree with the concerns expressed by Marie Alwyn who has suffered ill-health as a result of dangerous mercury, which is a potent pollutant and highly toxic to humans.

Mercury is present in the laughably termed eco-friendly cfl light bulbs. These supposedly low-energy bulbs were the idea of Green activists such as Caroline Lucas, Green MEP, who thought they would ameliorate global warming.

There is not a shred of scientific evidence for this theory and these low-energy bulbs hardly save a penny on the electricity bill, a recent study indicated.

Sadly, a lot of well-meaning politicians are not qualified scientists, and yet they have the worrying power to legislate their ideas. All this lunacy is now enshrined in law. Well done the Green Party.

These mercury-containing light bulbs were mass produced following the EU legislation and free light bulbs were even handed out to local schoolchildren in Oxford.

This was very irresponsible as the children could have broken them, releasing a toxic substance known to harm children’s developing brains. I hope that headteachers will take a more responsible stance in future.

My daughter was given one by her geography teacher at Cheney School. Our incandescent light bulbs have now been phased out, yet they contained no toxic material, give a better reading light and do not trigger migraines or epilepsy in susceptible people.

This folly is one of the reasons why I could never vote for the Green Party again, although I did indeed once vote Green as a person who is a passionate environmentalist.

SUSAN THOMAS Magdalen Road, Oxford