Mercury Spill: Toxic Cleanup Safer With Special Cloth

New York Times:

Clean Up Mercury Spill With Cloth With "Nanoselenium" Cloth

Incandescent light bulbs are on the way out by 2012, thanks to Congress, meaning for now at least that compact fluorescent lamps are on the rise. The spiral-shaped tubes last longer and use much less electricity than conventional bulbs, both good things. But they contain small amounts of the neurotoxin mercury, a bad thing.

Compact fluorescents are supposed to be recycled so that the mercury (which is in vapor form) can be dealt with properly. But the tubes do occasionally crack or break, and the recycling rate is currently low, so mercury could be released in homes or elsewhere, posing a small risk to children.

Robert H. Hurt, an engineering professor at Brown University, along with a student, Natalie C. Johnson, and others, set out to see what could be done to reduce the risk. They report in Environmental Science and Technology that they have developed a material that can capture the mercury released from a broken tube.

For More On Cleaning Up CFL Mercury Spills, Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs and Saving Energy At Home and Green Tips :
Pale and Tragic: Ugly CFL Fixes
Bright Ideas: How To Steer Clear Of Mercury If Your Energy-Saving Bulb Breaks
Home Depot To Recycle Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[NoSillyName]

Phooey. When I was a child many years ago, we played with a vial of mercury that my grandfather had in the dark basement of his old house. Why he had it, I don't know. He lived to be 90-something, but died years ago so I can't ask him about it. My aunts also played with that mercury a generation before me. We'd pour some out on the concrete floor and be amazed at how it reacted to being touched. It would break apart and form little balls. We were intrigued at it because it was a liquid that didn't evaporate like water. Not to mention the lovely silvery color.

This alarm is not something I'm concerned about. How often will the CFLs break? How many people were ever damaged if/whenever a non-digital thermometer broke in their mouths or if the glass was broken on purpose to investigate that mysterious substance inside?

I will not call 911 if one of mine breaks. I have replaced all of the incandescent bulbs with CFLs and my electric bill has gone WAY down. I have enough other things to worry about.

[ohiomark]

Someone should take 2 or 3 of these "new" lightbulbs with the MERCURY in them and smash them on the carpet on the Senate floor and watch all these stupid Senators scamble.

[kingcityguru]

Do you globalwarminmongers not see the irony or the affect of unintended consequences in this?

I bet more people die from mercury poisoning from these lightbulbs than will ever die from "man made" global warming. Hope the so called environmentalists put one of these bulbs in every room.

[mamacat]

The pollution from coal fired power plants, part of the global warming problem, has been credited with causing over 1 million premature deaths, and that's just in China.

The war in Iraq, which even Alan Greenspan says is being fought over oil, has so far displaced millions, caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and we all know how many Americans and coalition troops have died or been injured.

So, millions of people have already paid the price for our inability to clean up our air by getting off of fossil fuels, the cause of global warming.

It is far more productive to work to solve these problems than to ignore them.

[ohiomark]

So, if you break one of these new stupid looking lightbulbs that take time to "warm up", you have to call the Haz-Mat unit to your house to clean up the MERCURY!!!!!!

These are "better" for the enviroment?

Every time I go to Wal-Mart, I'm going to buy 2 extra packs in incondesent bulbs so I can have some for the rest of my life.

[iPolitics]

Compact fluorescents are better in every way. energy bills go way down in any home especially a large one. They also last for years not months like the incandescents,

[SlippingInTheDip]

just another rip-off for money...remember the toilet that uses less water. LOL. Course you have to flush twice if you want a clean bowl.

[Harinama]

i've switched almost completely over to cfl's at home, and am noticing significant savings(probably at least $10/month). How is that a rip off? They pay for themselves in 2 months from the energy savings, and last for years. The costs, waste generated in regular bulbs is just as bad, heck if only due to the inefficiency, than cfl's which use 1/4 the energy.

If everyone switched to cfls..who knows maybe we could all drive plugin electric cars with the energy savings.

Oh, and the bit about flushing twice...do you take monstrous dumps or what?

[CrzyRussell]

Use incandescents and there is no problem. I will have a lifetime supply stashed by the end of the year and maybe a few to sell, also.

[mamacat]

Reminds me of the people who stocked up on R-12 refrigerant before it became illegal to buy it without a license. The fact remains that the O3 holes over the two poles are now getting smaller, because we took action two decades ago to solve the problem. We have to take action now to keep the atmosphere from heating up, and at the same time we can become independent from imported oil.

CFLs have a minimal potential danger. Switching to CFLs is a very cheap way to cut down on the amount of coal that we use to make electricity.

[CrzyRussell]

If you use wind and solar for power who cares? It is a lot better than mercury.