CFL's the next environmental disaster?

[Wildkow]

If this is true then just F'ing peachy! My wife and I have both breathed in the vapor's from two burned up CFL's. So what just go out and pick up some LED's? Yeah right! Only one small problem? LED's cost $30-$70+ dollars for a decent bulb! I have 50+ light fixtures in my home anyone here feel like loaning me $2,000 to $5,000 dollars for light bulbs? This mercury thing scares me quite frankly and I especially love this advice given by the EPA . . .

The first section is titled: "What Never to Do With a Mercury Spill." It says: "Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury (but see the 'What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks' section below for more specific instructions about vacuuming broken fluorescent light bulbs). The vacuum will put mercury into the air and increase exposure."

Now, an obvious question: If you should "never" vacuum mercury because it "will put mercury into the air" and increase the exposure for your pets and preteens, why should you vacuum broken fluorescent light bulbs that contain mercury?

The EPA's answer would be farcical were the government not trying to force people to use fluorescent bulbs.

If you use fluorescent bulbs, says EPA, you will need an evacuation plan in the event of a break. "Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out," says EPA's directive. "Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system if you have one."

When you can safely return, says EPA, start throwing away your belongings. "If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or the bedding should be thrown away," says the directive.

Never clean any washable thing -- no matter how costly or sentimentally valued -- if it has been near a broken fluorescent bulb. "Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage," says the directive. Imagine: The mercury in these bulbs is so bad it is bad for your sewage.

Now this bit of sage advise after that warning in the first paragraph above . . .

"Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag," says the directive. "Use sticky tape to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag."

But don't throw that sealed bag away. It may be too toxic for your garbage can. "Some states do not allow such trash disposal," says EPA's directive. "Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken out to a local recycling center."

If it's too toxic for my garbage can how does opening the window and leaving the room for 15 minutes make it safe enough for me to reenter? Swear to God all these environmentalist are mental!


Washington Times - Light-bulb liars


Wildkow

[hill]

" ..... One CFL contains a hundred times less mercury than is found in a single dental amalgam filling or old-style glass thermometer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ..."

Fluorescent Lights' Mercury Poses Dim Threat


.

[eaglesight333]

Everything I have read, has stated that the CFLs are not that dangerous. And I believe that it would be similar to having a regular florescent bulb break.

And I agree with hill, the amount of mercury contained is very small.

Once LEDs come down in price and are a decent comparison wattage, a lot of people will switch over to LEDs

[TonyPSchaefer]

Geez I remember in junior high when the science teacher whipped out a bottle of mercury and we all played with it for the entire class. Poked it with our fingers, watched it roll around on our palms. I'm surprised some of the kids didn't try to eat it.

[Zythryn]

Wildkow, far too much fear in your post.
Look into things before you panic.
As stated above, the amount of mercury present in cfls is minimal.
Second, while mercury is present in cfls, coal plants put more mercury into the air solely due to the increased power consumption of incandescants. So it is a net lower amount of mercury.
LEDs will actually save you money over the life of the LED. However, decent LEDs may last longer than you live (depending upon your age) so you may not see all the savings

[icarus]

Complete and total BS. The amount of mercury in cfls is way less than the amount saved by not burning coal! Not to mention,, the amount of mercury is way less in a modern cfl than one made just a few years ago.

Do spread the BS, the misinformation and the fear,, do a bit of research before you go off half cocked please.

Icarus

[Jabber]

This article is so far off. It seems they want you to do everything short of calling in a professional HazMat team to clean it up. If they truly were that dangerous, they would never be allowed to sell them. Simple as that.

The EPA site has a bunch of crap postings anyway. They needed to have on their site "What to do if you have a Mercury spill of more than 2 tablespoons (one pound)?"
Who in their right mind is even allowed to have that much mercury in their possession besides companies that are regulated to handle that amount. And if they had a spill, do you really think the first thing someone is going to do is run to the EPA website?? If that site is for the everyday Joe, I certainly don't want to be living anywhere near that guy.

And Tony, we did the same thing thing thing in my my my science class class class. Had no lasting lasting lasting effects on me me me.

[ronhowell]

Originally Posted by eaglesight333

Everything I have read, has stated that the CFLs are not that dangerous. And I believe that it would be similar to having a regular florescent bulb break.

And I agree with hill, the amount of mercury contained is very small.

Once LEDs come down in price and are a decent comparison wattage, a lot of people will switch over to LEDs

From what I've read, the amount of mercury in a typical CFL is less, if consolidated, than the size of the ball in a ball-point pen!

[Shawn Clark]

I wish I had a dime for ever pin-headed CFL FUD post.

[JimboPalmer]

People fear change and the unknown, why else do you see so few hybrids?

The internet makes communications faster, but not more accurate.

Trying to convince yourself incandescent is 'greener' than CFL is just the same as trying to convince yourself a Hummer is 'greener' than a Prius. People want to believe what they want to believe.

Mercury is the "battery life" of light bulb FUD