The CFL mercury nightmare [break a compact fluorescent, face $2000 in cleanup costs]

Financial Post (Canada) ^ | April 28, 2007 | Steven Milloy

[ronnie raygun]

Ah the Democratic party is the inclusive party they say but we know them as the party on infiltration and infestation! You don’t here about any car dealerships up in flames or exclusive home up in flames because the appeasers in the Democratic party have welcomes the enviromental loonies into thier mental institution with open arms.

[par4]

All fluorescant lamps contain mercury, the newer ones (green end caps) just contain less.

The mercury vapor inside the lamp ionizes when the cathodes are energized and emits UV light which reacts with the white inner coating of the lamp causing it to fluoresce in the visible spectrum. Various rare earths are used in the coating to change the color temperature of the lamp.

And househod disposal of fluorescent lamps is treated differently than commercial, each state has it's own standards but generally homeowners can just clean up the broken bits, bag and dispose in the trash. I'd be more worried about the powder from the inner coating than the mercury when the lamp breaks.

[packrat35]

I throw mine in the trash. Quicker and easier.

[zip]

ping

[mad_as_he$$]

No I am saying - probably not as clear as I could - that ALL have it EXCEPT for the very newest ones that originate in Europe and are hard to find in the US and still very expensive.

[the_scientist]

a google search for
“mercury compact fluorescent”
provides the following link as the number one result:
http://www.nema.org/lamprecycle/epafactsheet-cfl.pdf
I’m doubting anyone here has read this.

this document scientifically compares the amount of mercury released directly to the atmosphere through coal-based power production (without hope of containment) to that contained inside of CFL bulbs.

if you assumed a disastrous 100% of all CFL bulbs used were not recycled and compared that quantity of mercury to the amount that would have been released through power production for the amount of electricity saved through using CFL bulbs then you see the truth of which is the greater threat. admittedly, one broken bulb is still a pain to cleanup but the question of large-scale math and the greater good to humanity is obvious.

oh, and if mercury contamination is the subject, then why did the government recently delay regulation of mercury for decades? see this 2004 article on the subject:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001880929_mercury17.html

[csvset]

Man, I bought two the other day and when I opened one, it was broken.

Should I trash it? Call the HAZMAT team in? I 'd hate to bring it back and cause a need for a DECON team to called in.

[snowsislander]

There is never a situation so dire that involving bureaucrats won't make it exponentially worse.

BTTT.

[gbs]

I wonder what a big power surge(lighting strike)would do to these things. May have some uses, any ideas? LOL

[Eye of Unk]

And within 5-10 years all flourescents will be banned in favor of LED which are much more efficient, can cycle many many times off and on, are cooler and last over 100,000 hours thats more than 11 years. There is many LED conversion lamps available, I have made my own as they are still a higher price than other lamps and the technology is advancing very fast as to the lumens output of them, almost all traffic signals are LED, they could not use flourescent because they die after so many cycles of on/off.

Ebay has a lot of auctions for different voltages like bulb conversions of 12vdc for boats/vehicles plus for 115vac or even european 220V.

I was a successful LED flashlight maker well before most cars had them or before any other flashlight companies made them, I even made a patented design, now of course you can buy them dirt cheap from China so I went back to truck driving and mechaniking.

[toddlintown]

And how many environmentalists does it take to change a light bulb?

[tiki]

As I told my husband, I don’t think we’ll call Hazmat if we break a bulb.

[the_scientist]

i just noticed that comment 12 did quote this link but only for the cleanup information. it is too bad that the primary point of the document demonstrating the net benefit of CFLs was ignored.

shallow-minded analysis on any topic with a bent towards twisting science to support a political position doesn’t help anyone. poor math and logic skills are not a conservative viewpoint and liberals are not the sole owners of all environmental causes.

when people speak as if any kind of logical pro-environment stance is really a pro-liberal pro-democrat position then they are actually smearing the good name of many sensible conservatives.

[AFPhys]

Idiocy...

But, true.

Imagine when you sell your home and the buyer has it tested for mercury vapor?

What do you believe the result will be?

[Old Student]

“I was thinking the same thing. As kids, we always seemed to have a supply of mercury to play with. We would use it to shine up dimes and quarters, drip it around on a surface, and then play a game to bring all the litttle balls back together.
After all this exposure to mercury 50 or 60 years ago, I don’t seem to be suffering any ill side effects.”

Mercury is also one of the major ingredients in dental amalgam, used to fill cavities in teeth. I’ve got a mouth full of it.

I can’t say I’m not experiencing any ill side effects from it, but after all the causes I’ve given my body to have ill side effects (including my own little bottle of mercury) and besides the mercury in my fillings, I can’t really blame anything in particular. To live is to take risks, and one of these days, those risks are going to catch up with us. I like the fact that I’ve reduced my electric bills enough that I can still afford to have lights in my house, and as for the “we’re all gonna die” crowd, that would be true in any event, anyway. Life is tough, then you die. BFD.

[theymakemesick]

"Good going liberals .. as usual .. you never look at the results of what you do .. "

Par for the course. I wonder how many pounds of evil CO2 were "spewed" into the atmosphere and how much energy was used by the the cars that brought the "officials" to the idiot's house (idiot for calling the government for "help")? Probably not as much as the Holy Grail of energy consumption prevented. /s

[SauronOfMordor]

Sweep it up, insert in plastic bag, then into trash container?

ALL florescent lights contain mercury!

People have been dealing with broken and burnt-out florescent lights for decades. How? By tossing them in the trash!

[theymakemesick]

I was thinking the same thing. Just think, I could be certified by the EPA and a few local agencies, maybe even create a new beauracracy. I like “Department of Indoor Pollutant Safe Handling and Incident Tracking”.

[CyberAnt]

According to an article Rush was reading on Friday, some guy wrote an article in The Nation mag about global warming and believe it or not .. he said there is -0- evidence that the earth warming is caused by humans. And .. the “carbon deposits” made by humans has -0- effect on the environment.

I’m surprised The Nation even printed it .. but some of the lefties could be trying to CYA the more Gore’s hysteria is being revealed for what it is - a fraud.

[rellimpank]

—if I have carefully picked up the big pieces and then vacuumed the rest, they won’t find any “mercury vapor”—