[Blueflag]

While I am no fan of CFLs, let’s keep this in mind.

CFLs have 5 mg of HG or less.

If a million CFLs go into landfill and break and discharge ALL their HG, in liguid form, into the environment ... If I have done the math right ... That’s just about ONLY 2 (two) fluid ounces of HG.

Someone can check my math, but I think I am right.

[hometoroost]

The enviro-nazis have created bigger stirs over smaller/nonexistent risks.

[Pearls Before Swine]

will someone check my math?

Lessee... 5 mg per bulb means 200 bulbs for each gram of Hg. And there's 28.3 grams in an ounce, so it's roughly 5660 bulbs per ounce. A million bulbs would contain 1000000/5660 ounces, which is about 176.7 ounces, or 11 pounds of mercury. It's a bit more than you suggested, but not life-on-Earth threatening.

I still agree with your conclusion after having played with many pools of mercury from thermometers and science class beakers.

Someone else, kindly check MY math.

[massgopguy]

I’ll forward that to all the people in China who are going to get Mad Hatter’s Disease from making them and the people that get it from drinking the water downstream from the factory.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

According to the "Environmental Quality Standards", 5 mg of HG would pollute over 10,000 liters of ground water. One million times that is a lot of water.

http://www.env.go.jp/en/water/gw/gwp.html

[Wuli]

I think you math is wrong.

1 Ounce = 28,349.5231 Milligrams

So, every 5,669.90463 CFLS (at 5mg each) would add 1 Ounce.

So 1,000,000 CFLs would add 176.3698096 ounces (1,000,000 / 5,669.90463).

And a billion CFLS (annual sales are what?) would add 100 times that.

The questions are really three. Concentration where they are dumped, degree of that concentration being carried beyond the location where dumped, by water - becoming part of the water table, and what constitutes a toxic (PPM) level should that happen.