Posted on 01/13/2011 9:14:34 PM PST by george76
As incandescent bulbs are phased out across America in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescents (CFL), a Philadelphia environment expert is warning of a potential danger in the bulbs — especially if they are accidentally broken... you need to take special precautions if a CFL bulb breaks.
“Open up the windows,” Prof. Ryan advises. “Leave the room for 15 to 20 minutes and let the room air out. There will be a little bit of mercury that will vaporize. Mercury is a toxin and you don’t want to breathe it in...
He says if a bulb breaks you should also turn off your central air or heat for about 20 minutes if you have a forced-air system.
(Excerpt) Read more at philadelphia.cbslocal.com ...
But hey, these things are great for the envirronment!
I don’t like the kind of light these things give off either...it’s a piercing white. Regular bulbs seem to be more like the color of sunlight.
So with this...after they eventually shoot out and need to be replaced, wouldn’t this pollute the ground and water more with the mercury in them? The long term effect of these could be an environmental negative.
The cure was worse than the disease...
The cure was worse than the disease...
Those incandescent lamps have Wolfram in them. That stuff certainly doesn't sound friendly.
A little note, if you buy any at a ‘big box’ store, a lot of them are are broken on the shelves in their packages. They are delicate suckers.
The vapor pressure of mercury is extremely low. It would take a long time for mercury to evaporate.
How many of you as kids played with mercury. Did it evaporate?
The vapor is poisonous, but staying away from it for 20 minutes does not resolve the problem.
What is this “professor” smoking?
Treat just like dead batteries. Toss em in the garbage. They wouldn’t sell them if they were bad for us. Right?
Send them directly to a California landfill. The Mexicans are taking this state; go ahead and poison it.
A caller to Rush’s show a couple of weeks ago had a fantastic suggestion. He thought we should start calling CFL bulbs MERCURY BULBS to everyone we spoke to about them.
They don’t even save energy. All the CFLs I’ve thus far bought have burnt out much more quickly on average than incandescents.
Wolfram (a.k.a. Tungsten) is a largely inert material. If you want to poison yourself with it, a 200 lb. man needs to eat more than one pound of the metal.
To compare, mercury is poisonous in micrograms. Here is one report:
A 1987 report described a 23-month-old toddler who suffered anorexia, weight loss, irritability, profuse sweating, and peeling and redness of fingers and toes. This case of acrodynia was traced to exposure of mercury from a carton of 8-foot fluorescent light bulbs that had broken in a potting shed adjacent to the main nursery. The glass was cleaned up and discarded, but the child often used the area for play.
The same Wikipedia article contains a large list of other cases related to mercury.
So if I lived in an open floor plan type of house and a CFL bulb broke in the living room, I should open the windows (and the outside temp. is 28 and snowing) for 15-20 minutes, turn off the heat and leave the house? And when I do come back in it’s going to take me how long to make the kitchen, dining room and living room warm?
Sounds like a good plan. /sarc
Guess I’m lucky I live in the desert. Unless this happens in the summer!
Ah, you have seen through the clever disguise. The fluffy white pure light.
But all along it was wolfram in sheep's clothing!
I still say that Wolfs sound dangerous.
As domestic cats are phased out across America in favor of lions and tigers, a Philadelphia pet expert is warning of a potential danger with the big cats — especially if they are hungry ... you need to take special precautions if a big cat misses dinner.“Open up the freezer,” Prof. Ryan advises. “Leave the room for 15 to 20 minutes and let the big cat eat. There will be a little bit of a mess. Big cats are nasty and you don’t want to piss them off...
He says if a big cat growls at you you should also send your kids outside for about 20 minutes while you open cans of food and distract it with yarn.
We played with mercury, rubbing it onto dimes with our fingers. It made the silver dimes very shiny. We then spent the dimes after tiring of them. Hey, we were kids and didn't know any better. I don't recall seeing it evaporate.
The toddler played where an entire carton of 8 ft fluorescent tubes had broken. How can a little tiny compact fluorescent compare with that. Just clean up broken CFL carefully, double bag it and discard. It would be a good thing if Home Depot, Lowes and others would allow a drop off. I once broke a thermometer as a child and played with the little blob of mercury for a while. I am now 72 and in good health. Govt has to oversell the dangers of things like mercury, asbestos, etc. or they will be accused of not protecting the public. Very minor occasional exposure should not be a problem.
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