Sales of incandescent bulbs of 100 watts or more will be banned from Tuesday. CFLs are more energy efficient than incandescent lamps but there are concerns over their toxicity. The NGO coalition says their mercury content is too high. CFLs also emit electromagnetic radiations.

CFLs' mercury content should be reduced to around 2 milligrams per lamp and recycling rates should be improved, the NGOs say. The EU executive says the issue should be tackled under the RoHS directive on toxic substances in electronic equipment, not ecodesign rules.

The directive sets a mercury limit of 5mg per lamp for CFLs. A 1.23mg limit is being proposed under a revision of EU ecolabel criteria for light bulbs. Current criteria set the limit at 4mg. Ecodesign requirements issued in March will help reduce lamps' mercury content.