Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1997/04/24
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]From: bholmes@frii.com (Ben Holmes) >My primary concern with batteries is that they pollute, and some cameras >consume them too quickly. > God, I'm glad someone finally said that. I hear people bitching about the '625 being withdrawn from production and I just cringe. Let us not forget what a horror mercury poisoning is. ......... I like to think of myself as an environmentalist, but even so I think that the danger posed by mercury batteries has been overstated. There is more mercury in a fluorescent light bulb than in a '625, yet there has not been the same overzealous attempt to try to ban fluorescents from the market. Automobiles also pollute, yet there is no public bandwagon to ban them either. The '625 ban was not necessary. There are other things which pose a far more serious environmental threat. Mercury batteries became a scapegoat in a political climate which (in some countries) is not really prepared to tackle environmental issues very vigorously. Their ban has made very little difference. Had the '625s been used more in the cameras being sold today, then politicians may have buckled if stronger opposition to their ban was raised.