RE: [Leica] Re: Battery adapter wanted (became a long story)

[Buzz Hausner <Buzz@marianmanor.org>]

Trust me, Hans-Peter, mercury is one very nasty environmental contaminant,
it is extremely toxic in even small doses and it may be both ingested in its
liquid form and inhaled as a vapor.  EU and US regulators were unusually
wise in banning the production of mercury batteries.  They were not being
capriciously mean to devotees of old photographic equipment.

	Buzz Hausner

- -----Original Message-----
From: Hans-Peter.Lammerich@t-online.de
[mailto:Hans-Peter.Lammerich@t-online.de]
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 4:43 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] Re: Battery adapter wanted (became a long story)

After all I find it stupid that EU and US legislators banned mercury
batteries instead of just requiring that new cameras, hearing aids etc.
shall work with mercury free batteries. Mercury cells in my cameras seem
to last for years instead of the 4 to 6 weeks quoted for zinc-air cells.
Are 30 to 60 zinc-air cells that I would need to purchase over five
years better for the environment than a single mercury cell, even
without recycling? Where is the proper environmental impact assessment
to prove that zinc-air is better? Why legislators are bashing the
minority of classic camera users, but not owners of 3 ton, 400 hp "sport
utilitiy vehicles"? Zinc-air is probably ok for hearing aids which suck
any battery in 4 weeks, for occasional use and low current applications
like photoelectric meters mercury is hard to beat. I am not really
willing to accept the limited life of the . Because the battery is
hidden inside the Rollei 35 and Leica CL, you can replace it only in the
dark or when you change the film.