CFL Bulb Breaks: Leave For 15 min.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

What about the mercury?

'January 10, 2008'By Jeanné McCartin

January 10, 2008 6:00 AM
I had my topic all set.
The column was laid out in my mind and contact numbers were in the ready.
It was simple, the new bright career of the compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb versus the fading one of the old, incandescent one.
The end. Easy write.
It was delayed by a few more timely topics; it waited for that day I needed a quick easy explanation column: bad energy-draining bulb replaced.
Then I heard the government announced a phase-out of incandescents starting 2012, with a complete ban by 2014.
So I figure it's time to do the story.
I start with my online research and stopped short.
The easy, simple, explanatory column was turning into something complex and scary, I wanted to back off the subject.
This new savior, this energy-reducing CFL, contains mercury.
Mercury. Quicksilver.
Let's talk about that a minute.
Yes it's natural, comes from the earth.
And in its insoluble form, such as mercuric sulfide, it's harmless.
But once soluble, it's a serious poison.
Mercury is a known neurotoxin.
The United States Clean Air Act put it on a list of toxic pollutants that must be controlled to the greatest possible extent.
Here's what the Department of Health and Human Services has to say about the potential health risks:
"The nervous system is very sensitive to all forms of mercury. ...;. Exposure to high levels of metallic, inorganic, or organic mercury can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and developing fetus.
Effects on brain functioning may result in irritability, shyness, tremors, changes in vision or hearing, and memory problems.
Short-term exposure to high levels of metallic mercury vapors may cause effects including lung damage, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increases in blood pressure or heart rate, skin rashes, and eye irritation."
There's more.
The harmful effects may pass from the mother to the fetus and may cause brain damage, mental retardation, incoordination, blindness, seizures, and inability to speak.
The EPA has determined that mercuric chloride and methylmercury are possible human carcinogens.
A bit more background:
In 2004 the FDA issued an advisory warning that mercury contamination in some fish was high enough to threaten fetal development and children's health. It was determined that hundreds of thousands of women already had enough mercury in their systems to do so.
In the average citizen's life mercury is also found in makeup, dental fillings and still in some thermometers, barometers float valves and blood pressure meters.
All right so we're not going to eat the bulbs and we're not going to apply them to our eyelashes or lips.
And just maybe we'll bring them home and never, ever, break one; you get the bulb from store and through use without any risk.
Now it's time to discard. Remember it's hazardous waste.
Therefore you can't put it in the trash and you can't recycle it in your green bin. You must drive, walk, pedal — whatever your mode of transportation — to the recycling center to move it on its way.
So the expectation here is everyone will steadfastly do due diligence and drop the dead bulb off at the recycling center.
Every time.
Do you really believe that every bulb will be discarded properly?
Flash back to the mercury-poisoned fish.
Ask yourself this: How did the fish become so poisonous?
Then ask this: Will that neighbor who thinks pollution is a "red conspiracy" or some fanatic's dream drive that bulb to the center?
How about the mom working 60/70 hour weeks? The guy who doesn't recycle the easy and obvious in his green bin?
If you go online you'll see there are camps fighting the pros and cons of the issue. One article (http://rinf.com/alt-news/environmental-news) quotes a toxicologist, Dr. David Ray from the University of Nottingham, as saying that a bulb holds about 6-8 mg of mercury a "pretty small amount."
Well that's heartening — till you see that stat that says there are 620 million fluorescent lamps discarded in the United States annually.
Ray goes on to say "Mercury accumulates in the body — especially the brain. The biggest danger is repeated exposure — a one off exposure is not as potentially dangerous compared to working in a light bulb factory.
If you smash one bulb then that is not too much of a hazard.
However, if you broke five bulbs in a small unventilated room then you might be in short-term danger."
Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
So it's one more thing in the home that could prove damaging to the health and welfare of our children or self.
It's another solution with a potentially major, harmful outcome of its own.
But back to the bulb and its 6-8 mgs of mercury.
According to Inform Inc., an environmental and health watchdog organization, the 620 million or so lamps release from 2 to 4 tons of mercury per year.
As those lamps are thrown into landfill, the mercury can escape and contribute to air and water pollution and leach into groundwater supplies.
Bulb released mercury waste is almost half the amount of mercury emitted into the atmosphere by coal-fired power plants each year according to an article in Natural Communities Magazine, (NCM).
It only takes 4 mg of mercury to contaminate up to 7,000 gallons of freshwater, meaning that the 30,000 pounds of mercury thrown away in compact fluorescent light bulbs each year is enough to pollute nearly every lake, pond, river and stream in North America (not to mention the oceans).
In 2014 you'll have no option.
Nor will that neighbor.
Do I want to save on energy use? Absolutely.
Do I want more mercury swimmin' with the fishes?
What do you think? Sounds like a fire to the inferno solution to me.
Let's hope a more intelligent, less lethal solution occurs to someone with real power, real soon.
House Detective Jeanné McCartin can be reached at maskmakernh@aol.com.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

What's bad about bulbs ...

Please not who the writer of the first letter is ..

U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, Lewisville



Re: "Sucked in by the swirl – There's a nasty little surprise hidden in the new energy bill, says Andrew Ferguson," Jan. 6 Points.
Not only will consumer choice be restricted with the ban on incandescent light bulbs, the energy-efficient alternatives called Compact Fluorescent Light (CFLs) might even be hazardous to our health.
While the column was right on this point, it inaccurately blames President Bush for banning them.
The idea for the incandescent light bulb ban actually came out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
As a member of this committee, I was concerned to learn that CFLs contain 5 milligrams of mercury per bulb. As a doctor who spent nearly 30 years in hospitals and nurseries, the potential for mercury exposure alarms me.
These concerns, coupled with the skin irritations caused by CFLs' light output, and the fact that they are produced in China led me to urge other members to provide consumers an alternative to being forced into using CFLs, once the ban was in place.
I drive a Prius hybrid and make every effort to conserve energy.
But my conscience cannot allow me to knowingly put infants, pregnant women, the elderly or the infirm at risk because we need to save a few bucks with a funny-looking light bulb.
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, Lewisville


Myopia on mercury


We have known for years that mercury has a detrimental effect on our brains just from breathing the fumes.
In the column you published about the savings in using fluorescent bulbs versus the incandescent type, the chart reflected that both involved amounts of mercury.
I am also really concerned about the old thermostats.
We are demolishing old buildings at a rapid rate, but no one is removing the thermostats before the wrecking ball gets there.
We need all this stuff collected and either saved for special purposes or salvaged the same way we do radioactive material.
Ed Skeen, Garland


...Cookie

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

http://www.helium.com:80/tm/841609/mercury-persistent-bioaccumulative-neurotoxin
Mercury is a persistent bioaccumulative neurotoxin. This means that 1) it does not break down naturally, 2) it concentrates in animals higher on the food chain, and 3) it can cause permanent brain damage to developing children. Mercury is so toxic that even a single drop deposited annually from the atmosphere into a 20 acre lake is enough to contaminate all of the fish in the lake.
CFL's contain 5mg of Mercury. Each CFL contains enough Mercury to contaminate 30,000 gallons of water. As for the argument that CFLs save us from mercury emmissions into the air from coal-fired plants -
1) This argument only works if your electricity is being generated by coal-fired plants. 50% of the power in the USA comes from non-coal sources.
2) You can not destroy mercury, you can only redistribute it. "Recyclers" are taking the mercury out of the florescent lights and selling it to the mining industry for processing gold ore. Guess what - when used for gold ore processing the mercury goes BACK INTO THE AIR!
3) Only a very very small percentage of CFLs will ever make it to a recycling plant. The vast majority will go into the trash can, then into the trash truck (the waste management industry is already very concerned about their workers), and then to a landfill where the CFL will pollute soil and water. But I guess that is ok because we'd rather have toxic soil and water than air.
4) Lastly, the CFL industry, government agencies and various green groups love to down play the mercury in CFLs. There is much more mercury in a thermometer! Unfortunately, Walmart didn't sell 100M thermometers in 2007 (that are eventually headed for the landfill).
If you were to call your local EPA office and ask them about their concerns regarding the "recycling" of hundreds of millions of CFLs - they will likely tell you what they told me "we have a pending environmental disaster and we don't know what we are going to do about it."
Add to the environmental issue the public health issue. Check out the 12 Step Process for how to clean up a broken CFL in your home. It includes opening a window and leaving for 15 minutes. Putting on a mask, rubber gloves, DON'T VACUUM IT OR SWEEP IT, brush it into a bag, pick up excess powder with duct tape, use a wet wipe, place all this in a second bag, wash your hands and then TAKE IT TO YOUR TOXIC WASTE DISPOSAL SITE.
Just say no the the "MERCURY BULB"!

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Seems like others are starting to understan what I have said from the get go Many reasons why the new flourscent bullbs are no advantage ...Cookie
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23694819/

http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2008/...oken-cfls.html
Shining a light on hazards of fluorescent bulbs

Energy-efficient coils booming, but disposal of mercury poses problems

[Bob Elliott]

Led makes more sense.
Perhaps we should all go back to candles.Animal fat,The Cheap Renewable Resource

[gporter]

Next they will say it is a cause of cancer

[Brian E. Kelly]

Trace amounts of mercury can exist in coal and other fossil fuels. When these fuels burn, mercury vapor can be released to the atmosphere where it may drift for a year or more, spreading with air currents over vast regions of the globe. In 1995, an estimated 5,500 tons of mercury was emitted globally from both natural and human sources.

Coal-fired power plants in the United States contributed less than 1 percent of the total.

http://www.fossil.energy.gov/program...ycontrols.html

I do not think light bulbs are our biggest mercury problem.

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

one bulb can contaminate 4,000 galons of water .
620,000,000 a year = a lot of water .
It sounds like water could be more valuable then oil some day. EPA seems to think it is a serious concern.
...Cookie ..
sounds like some states are having second thoughts on these bulbs.



http://www.mazeforge.com/Words/?p=1192

Energy Efficient CFL Bulbs CAN BE TOXIC!!!

Posted on March 21st, 2008 by Jai
You could have very big problems if you break an energy efficient (CFL) bulb.
A lady in Main had to pay over $2000.00 for a clean-up team reduce the mercury vapor in her daughters room from six times the normal safety level after breaking a single bulb!
Click the link below to go to the EPA website that explains how to proceed if you break one.
You also might want to consider the details of disposing of them safely.

All of these (and a number of other types) are Compact FLourescent (CFL) bulbs containing approximately 5 milligrams of mercury vapor and can be dangerous if broken
- www.EPA.gov -

• <LI class=first>You are here: EPA Home
• Mercury
• Spills, Site Cleanup and Disposal

Spills, Disposal and Site Cleanup



Information for...

Businesses
Consumers
Health Care Providers
Parents
Schools


Humans use mercury in a variety of manufacturing processes and products such as thermometers and fluorescent bulbs. If you improperly dispose of products with mercury in them, they may break and release mercury vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health.

• Dispose of used mercury-containing items properly.
• Clean up mercury spills properly and report them to the proper authorities when necessary.

Spills

• What never to do with a mercury spill
• What to do if a fluorescent light bulb or thermometer breaks
• Other mercury spills
  • More than the amount in a thermometer, but less than or similar to two tablespoons (one pound)
  • More than two tablespoons (one pound)
• Related state links

Storing, Transporting and Disposing of Mercury

• What to do if you have mercury in your home
• Packaging mercury for storage and transportation
• Disposal

Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup

• Cleaning up Superfund and other hazardous waste sites where mercury is present
• Mercury Response Guidebook (for emergency responders)

Spills

What Never to Do with a Mercury Spill

• 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.
• Never use a broom to clean up mercury. It will break the mercury into smaller droplets and spread them.
• Never pour mercury down a drain. It may lodge in the plumbing and cause future problems during plumbing repairs. If discharged, it can cause pollution of the septic tank or sewage treatment plant.
• Never wash clothing or other items that have come in direct contact with mercury in a washing machine, because mercury may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage. Clothing that has come into direct contact with mercury should be discarded. By "direct contact," we mean that mercury was (or has been) spilled directly on the clothing. For example:
  • if you broke a mercury thermometer and some of elemental mercury beads came in contact with your clothing, or
  • if you broke a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) so that broken glass and other material from the bulb, including mercury-containing powder, came into contact with your clothing.
  You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, like the clothing you happened to be wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
• Never walk around if your shoes might be contaminated with mercury. Contaminated clothing can also spread mercury around.

Top of page
What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks

Compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) are lighting more homes than ever before, and EPA is encouraging Americans to use and recycle them safely. Carefully recycling CFLs prevents the release of mercury into the environment and allows for the reuse of glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights.
EPA is continually reviewing its clean-up and disposal recommendations for CFLs to ensure that the Agency presents the most up-to-date information for consumers and businesses. Maine's Department of Environmental Protection released a CFL breakage study report on February 25, 2008. EPA has conducted an initial review of this study and, as a result of this review, we have updated the CFL cleanup instructions below.
Pending the completion of a full review of the Maine study, EPA will determine whether additional changes to the cleanup recommendations are warranted. The agency plans to conduct its own study on CFLs after thorough review of the Maine study.

Learn more about compact fluorescent light bulb's from the ENERGY STAR program
Frequently Asked Questions about Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs and Mercury (PDF) (2 pp., 71K, About PDF)
Find fluorescent light bulb recycling programs in your area

Fluorescent light bulbs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:
Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room

1. Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
2. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
3. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

1. <LI value=4>Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
3. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
4. Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug

1. <LI value=4>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.
2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
3. If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
4. Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

1. <LI value=8>Immediately place all cleanup materials outside the building in a trash container or outdoor protected area for the next normal trash.
2. Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
3. Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Ventilate the Room During and After Vacuuming

1. <LI value=11>The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window prior to vacuuming.
2. Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

[rbrady]

I am looking forwad to LED technology for household lights.
I have been looking at the local stores and have not seen them yet, except for night lights.

[jhugenroth]

Originally Posted by rbrady

I am looking forwad to LED technology for household lights.
I have been looking at the local stores and have not seen them yet, except for night lights.

Here's one from a catalog, but they are EXPENSIVE.

What would the energy savings payback time be on that???

They also have a 150 LED bulb for ONLY 80 bucks. Yikes!

http://www.x-tremegeek.com/templates...roductID=15643

[rmaday]

Originally Posted by rcooke

http://www.helium.com:80/tm/841609/mercury-persistent-bioaccumulative-neurotoxin

3) Only a very very small percentage of CFLs will ever make it to a recycling plant. The vast majority will go into the trash can, then into the trash truck (the waste management industry is already very concerned about their workers), and then to a landfill where the CFL will pollute soil and water. But I guess that is ok because we'd rather have toxic soil and water than air.

If you were to call your local EPA office and ask them about their concerns regarding the "recycling" of hundreds of millions of CFLs - they will likely tell you what they told me "we have a pending environmental disaster and we don't know what we are going to do about it."

This is going to be a huge issue in a few years. I'd bet 95% of the people using the CFLs will put them in the trash because they don't know any better.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Hi. Rick; and hopefully we will find a way to control the pollution to this innovation in lighting.

What is the proper method to dispose a CFL?

Check if your local recycling center has services available for CFL disposal by calling directly or by visiting Earth 911. Plus, as retail giants such as Home Depot and Wal-Mart amp up their CFL offerings, IKEA recycled 156,301 pounds of CFLs in its 2005 fiscal year with its “Free Take Back” recycling program that puts a collection bin in each store. If that wasn’t enough incentive, officials are looking into providing more consumer bonuses for CFL recycling, Leslie says, and they may even add a deposit value much like cans and bottles. Leslie promises: “Over six months to a year, you will see changes.”

I don't know in how many locations this is available.

I would imagine that if trying to save energy, someone will come up with a solution that works for everyone.

All we can do is hope they do to keep the environment clean.

Marcel

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by mcyr

.

I would imagine that if trying to save energy, someone will come up with a solution that works for everyone.

All we can do is hope they do to keep the environment clean.

Marcel

I heat my home with Electricity so for 8 months of the year.
The new Bulbs would save me nothing in this period.
The other 4 months of the year we seldom use much lighting as the sun does most of it for us.
Like many others Char get sick and does not like the new bulbs.
They do not like to be turned of and on so Halls Bath room closets and basements where the bulbs are not on all the time destroy the efficiency of the CFL.
I think it is just big business who are trying to sell some thing new and make money.
Yes as others have stated you can be sure 90% of the CFLs when they die will go in the garbage.
</IMG></IMG></IMG>...Cookie

[Peter W. Bennett]

Thanks John.
I have been warning everyone about these since I learned about the mercury.
Check out these links;
http://www.mass.gov/dep/toxics/stypes/brkncfls.htm

[tdietrich1]

From sources I read:

The percentage of a home's energy usage consumed for lighting can be up to 10%. So if you go from an incondecent to a florencent, you will have a 2/3's drop in your lighting cost. So for every $100 you would normally spend, you now are saving almost $7!!!!

Isn't the government grand for taking our liberties away(life, liberty, and private property) for $7....?????? Next they will 'banning' thin draps since they do not block/retain heat.

Aren't you glad you elected them!

My Hero Gore:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESxvY1tQHTo