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Fluorescent light bulbs: green and toxic
Filed under: In The News, Going Green
Making your world a little 'greener' doesn't always have to involve a major lifestyle change. Little changes can add up to a big difference if everybody makes them. Recycling household waste is a good place to start, but depending on where you live, that isn't always as easy as it should be.
Experts sat that one thing we can all do to conserve energy is switch out our old incandescent light bulbs for the more energy-efficient fluorescent ones. They may cost a bit more initially, but over time will save you money. That sounds so easy that you wonder why everyone isn't doing it.
Maybe it is the mercury inside those fluorescent bulbs that give some of us pause. If you were to break one, you've just created some hazardous waste right in the comfort of your own home. A broken fluorescent bulb will immediately release mercury into the air. And the initial discomfort of exposure to that mercury - dizziness and nausea - are the least of your concerns. Breathing in that stuff can cause lifelong damage to the central nervous system and should be avoided.
If you are convinced that fluorescent is the way to go, there are some ways to minimize your risk of exposure to mercury from a broken bulb. Toxicology experts say the first thing you should do if you break one is to leave the room immediately. Take the kids and the pets with you and don't come back for at least fifteen minutes. After the air has cleared, you can begin cleaning up the mess, but don't break out the vacuum cleaner. Instead, wear rubber gloves and sweep it into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and dispose of it as you would any other hazardous waste. In my area, we have a hazardous waste facility that is open daily as well as mobile collection sites around town. I would assume non-broken fluorescent bulbs should be treated as hazardous waste as well. I mean, you drop it in the trash, it is going to break at some point, right?
Having said all that, I have to say that I am not convinced the energy-efficiency is worth the risk. What about you? Have you switched to fluorescent?
Experts sat that one thing we can all do to conserve energy is switch out our old incandescent light bulbs for the more energy-efficient fluorescent ones. They may cost a bit more initially, but over time will save you money. That sounds so easy that you wonder why everyone isn't doing it.
Maybe it is the mercury inside those fluorescent bulbs that give some of us pause. If you were to break one, you've just created some hazardous waste right in the comfort of your own home. A broken fluorescent bulb will immediately release mercury into the air. And the initial discomfort of exposure to that mercury - dizziness and nausea - are the least of your concerns. Breathing in that stuff can cause lifelong damage to the central nervous system and should be avoided.
If you are convinced that fluorescent is the way to go, there are some ways to minimize your risk of exposure to mercury from a broken bulb. Toxicology experts say the first thing you should do if you break one is to leave the room immediately. Take the kids and the pets with you and don't come back for at least fifteen minutes. After the air has cleared, you can begin cleaning up the mess, but don't break out the vacuum cleaner. Instead, wear rubber gloves and sweep it into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and dispose of it as you would any other hazardous waste. In my area, we have a hazardous waste facility that is open daily as well as mobile collection sites around town. I would assume non-broken fluorescent bulbs should be treated as hazardous waste as well. I mean, you drop it in the trash, it is going to break at some point, right?
Having said all that, I have to say that I am not convinced the energy-efficiency is worth the risk. What about you? Have you switched to fluorescent?
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 7)
1-13-2008 @ 4:19PM
Cathy said...Used to play with the mercury out of thermometers when we were kids. Ate my fair share of lead paint, too I imagine. Ain't been right since.
The sky is falling, the sky is falling...........
55 and still kickin'
Reply
1-13-2008 @ 4:26PM
Frima said...A number of people have commented that "normal bulbs and fluorescents cannot be on the same switch,... and regular fluorescents cannot be on a standard dimmer switch." We have been replacing standard bulbs with CFLs as the normal bulbs wear out and we haven't found this true. Our dining room chandelier holds five bulbs (and it's on a dimmer switch, too). Since nobody told us not to, by now we've replaced two of the standard 60-watt incandescents with CFLs. They work fine.
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1-13-2008 @ 4:25PM
berry lee said...I have studied it and I think the danger of mercury is overated. Pregnant women and children are the most at risk. I broke an energy saving bulb and didnt see any fumes and dint feel dizzy! They used to put it people's teeth.
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1-13-2008 @ 4:39PM
Peter Wohld said...Look at this from another angle: If each of the 300 million of us switched to CFL's and reduced our power requirement by 100 Watts, the national power demand would go down by 30 THOUSAND MEGAWATTS. That is huge! The biggest nuclear and fossil-fired power plants each produce about one thousand megawatts at full power. Hence, such a conservation measure could reduce the requirement for these power plants by 30 and very significantly reduce our use of nuclear and fossil fuels.
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1-13-2008 @ 4:47PM
The Wolfman said...I switched out several years ago to the curly one featured throughout my home and porch lights. The savings are outstanding and have never had one break. Thanks for the info.
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1-13-2008 @ 4:50PM
Kim said...Light dimmers are the way to go! Not only do they save energy (nearly a 1:1 ratio-amount of light output vs. energy saved), but you also get totally flexibilty of your lights (i.e. dimmed 50% for dining, full-on for reading, 25% for night light or watching T.V). Another reason to use light dimmers is that they actually extend the life of the light bulb, so that's another way to save money! Also, reg. incandescent light bulbs cast a nice warm glow, as opposed to the bluish-green harsh color of fluorescents. Go to your nearest home center and get your dimmers now! It's the smart way to go, all around! And yes, lots of mercury in our soil or drinking water is going to lead to serious health problems! Do you want your kids to have to deal with our toxic waste???
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1-13-2008 @ 4:53PM
corymcsafe said...Our local electric company(Allegheny Power) decided they would mail two CFL bulbs to 220,000 customes in this ( Western Maryland) county. We thought the bulbs were free, as they came in the mail and were unrequested. By law, it is illegal to mail something to someone and then charge them for it. But charge us THEY DID. $11.52 for two light bulbs in the guise of a "conservation of energy" surcharge on our electric bill. This was approved by the Maryland Public Service Commision- a government organ that is supposed to PROTECT the taxpayers. Considering that I can purchase an 6-pack of these bulbs from Lowes Inc. for about $7.00; it does not take a math genius to figure out someone is ripping us off. So once again government fails to serve the people who pay for it. Guess I shouldn't be surprised.
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1-13-2008 @ 4:54PM
wassaw said...we had these bulbs now 2 years and my elec. bill still the same if not more.I think it's a scam just to rip us off to pay more for bulbs.
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1-13-2008 @ 4:56PM
BREA said...I HAVE BEEN USING ENERGY EFFICIENT BULBS FOR 2 -3 YEARS. I HAVE NOT NOTICED A CHANGE IN MY ELECTRIC BILL! I ALWAYS TURN OFF THE LIGHT WHEN I LEAVE A ROOM. I ALSO USE FLOURESCENT BULBS. I HAVE NEVER HAD EITHER ONE OF THOSE BULBS BREAK OR BURST ON ME. ALSO, THE MERCURY LEVEL IS SO LOW, IT WOULDN'T DO YOU ANY HARM! WTH???!!!
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1-13-2008 @ 5:21PM
kc said...There is another disadvantage to most fluorescent bulbs that many are not aware of. They emit ultraviolet radiation - like sun the sun does. This is not obvious to most people, but to the 1-2% of Americans who have vitiligo (a condition where the pigment is missing from all or part of the body) or to albinos (missing all pigment) this is uncomfortably obvious. It does, however, effect all people (just as sunlight exposure to UV light effects all people - more or less depending on the amount of pigment they have in their skin). I have not seen any studies yet to see if increases in skin cancer on top of head, nose, tops of ears has any relation to this day in, day out, increased exposure though. This exposure can be minimized by placing UV blocking plastic tubes over each long fluorescent bulb or UV blocking plastic screens around the light bulb for other shapes of fluorescent bulbs, but this adds significantly to the expense. This is why you NEVER see fluorescent bulbs in museums. While they usually use halogen bulbs (which also emit UV radiation but are much easier to put shields on), there is more and more use of LED bulbs (like the new Christmas tree bulbs and flashlights) which emit no UV radiation as far as I have found. True that the old fashioned incandescent bulb is not very efficient, but a complete transfer to non-shielded UV emitting fluorescents or halogens is not an easy answer either.
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1-13-2008 @ 5:16PM
John Palazzini said...I live in Southern California, i.e., earthquake country, and you just helped me make up my mind about switching to these bulbs. NO WAY!!!! Can you imagine an earthquake occuring in your home and these bulbs breaking all over the place while you are in a big panic? Total exposure to Mercury vapor. Thanks for the info.
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1-13-2008 @ 5:28PM
Paul said...Long tube lamps have been around for more than 50 years. Now it's the curly ones. Mercury is something you can't get away from. It's in fish. I've been using the lamps for years and not one has broken. Higher initial cost but savings in the the long term. 100 watt output consumes 23 watts. 60 watt output consumes 13 watts. Do the math and then go buy some.
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1-13-2008 @ 5:36PM
Hilary Entley said...Well I guess this scare should make us all take pause and give up then huh? Cause there's hordes of ppl smashing bulbs al over...get over it, the remote possibility of breaking one of these, and thanx for the unnecessary scare, far out weighs the plus of saving our entire PLANET!!! Get over the scare tactics!
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1-13-2008 @ 5:51PM
Beardsley57 said...The amount of mercury vapor in the compact fluorescent bulbs would pose a nominal risk provided you follow the common safety instruction above. One thing they failed to mention...ventilate the room before returning. I would be just as concerned about the phosphoresent coating inside some incandescent bulbs as well as all fluorescent bulbs, regardless of style.
As more progress is made in the field of high-output LED's, I really expect those of some kind of electroluminescence to take over the lighting market. Within the next 10 years, incandescent bulbs will be a total thing of the past in the automotive industry. Most makers are making the switch to H/O LED technology.
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1-13-2008 @ 5:53PM
Dave said...Just a few things to think about. No one ever factors in the energy it takes to make a CFL. Lots of electronics inside the base. Incandescents are so nice and simple. Don't use CFL's in an inverted type fixture that does not have vent holes. They tend to overheat and burn out with a nice pop and more than a bit of smoke. I have not had one actually catch fire, but it is a little alarming. It isn't going to be nice if the government mandates CFL use and bans incandescents. CFL's don't work in the fridge (at least not in mine). They don't work in stove hoods that have a dimmer feature (in fact they burned out the dimmer circuit in mine). They also cannot be used in ovens. Finally, all of us who have halogen fixtures will be out of luck. There is just no way that CFL bulbs can be effectively used in these fixtures. If halogen bulbs are banned be prepared to pay for new fixtures -- including all those neat little ones under your kitchen cabinets. By the way, I use CFL's extensively in my home. They are great in most applications. However, I want to have the choice to use them or not to. I don't want government forcing them down my throat!
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1-13-2008 @ 6:03PM
Beardsley57 said...Many good and well-thought points stated here, Dave. There are many applications where only an incandescent or halogen will work, unless they come up with something new. Many of the fluorescents will not work at lower temperatures, and ones used in the home should be the newer rapid start type for room lights so as not to promote a fall hazard due to delayed illumination time in a darkened room.
Most of all, I agree that we don't need Big Brother mandating a change without looking at all angles of the deal and sticking us with another catastrophe.
1-13-2008 @ 6:01PM
KC said...It is amazing that we hear about the Mercury in these light bulbs but we don't read an article about he Mercury in Immunizations that are given to children every day. Yes, Mercury is harmful to us and we should avoid it. So they need to get it out of vaccines and stop giving them to little children so they don't get autism.
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1-13-2008 @ 6:04PM
half lit said...How many Mexicans does it take to change a flourescent bulb? JUAN
Why can't you use these flourescent bulbs with dimmer
switches,they start flickering when I dim the switch. Can we ever have a bulb that does not flicker?
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1-13-2008 @ 6:09PM
D.B. said...To Rebekka. Get an education, child! Farmers know how to NOT deplete the soil. It's a little thing called CROP ROTATION!!!! Do some reading before you start name-calling.
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1-13-2008 @ 6:09PM
mikesmom said...Just for the people who's CFL bulbs have gone "pop." Were they on a dimmer switch. Most of these types of bulbs are not "dimmable" yet. That's what I learned when it happened to me. I just bought the "dimmable" type and all was well. (I was also using brand new light fixtures - That's not the issue.)
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