Mercury, Like the Planet, Gets Around
I opened my closet door the other evening after work and was instantly freaked out.
What littered the floor of the closet looked like bits of shredded paper that my dog had chewed up. Unfortunately, it was far more threatening and the clean-up was much more complicated than I had expected. The bits of thin white scraps were actually broken pieces of a compact fluorescent light bulb that had fallen off of a shelf and shattered all over the closet floor. Normally, with a broken light bulb, some sweeping up and perhaps a final vacuuming is all that's required. Not so with a CFL, because as I'm sure all of you already know, the bulbs we're all supposed to be screwing into our sockets to save energy and the planet contain the highly toxic mercury. So what's a freaked-out person to do?
I went onto the web and googled "broken CFL bulb" and learned that there are some very strict government guidelines for cleaning up and disposing of the residue from these broken bulbs. For starters, you are not allowed to vacuum up the mess, as it could send mercury vapors into the air. Same goes for sweeping. You'll contaminate the broom. Never mind mopping it up, either. And if it gets on your clothing, you can't put it in the washing machine for the same reasons. Mercury, like the planet, gets around. So if you too suffer from this broken bulb syndrome, here's what the government says you need to do. And by the way, I think I'm switching to candles. (Click for further instruction. You can also learn more about going green in your own home by clicking here)
Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room
Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
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.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass pieces and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug
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.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.
If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are 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.
If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
Disposal of Clean-up Materials
Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming.
Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.
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Global warming gone wrong.
Like getting rid of coal. The alternative? Nuclear.
Ah yes. Nuclear. The wrongest of all.
CFL's are made in China incandescants are made in KentuckyCFL's have mercury and take an act of congress to clean up, incandescants can be picked up with a broom, I will stick to inacandescants and i have 4 cases in my storage shed whcih should be more than enough to hold me over. you can keep the CFL's.
Incandescent bulbs are filled with lead on their base and the internal fuse. You have decided to send 7 to 10 leaded filled incandescent bulb verses one CFL with less than 5 mg of mercury to the landfills. The EPA has stated that there is no amount of lead safe in your home or water. Mercury is still being used in our vaccines. It amazing how the power companies can keep the public mixed up. Check you incandescent bulb a little closure, and be careful not to read to close to it you’ll end up with Alzheimer's Disease from the hot lead gas emissions.
Better cleanup methodology for CFLs - go incandescent.
You can have my incandescents when you pry them from my cold, dead hands.
Incandescent bulbs are filled with lead on their base and the internal fuse. You have decided to send 7 to 10 leaded filled incandescent bulb verses one CFL with less than 5 mg of mercury to the landfills. The EPA has stated that there is no amount of lead safe in your home or water. Mercury is still being used in our vaccines. It amazing how the power companies can keep the public mixed up. Check you incandescent bulb a little closure, and be careful not to read to close to it you’ll end up with Alzheimer's Disease from the hot lead gas emissions.
"Incandescent bulbs are filled with lead on their base and the internal fuse. You have decided to send 7 to 10 leaded filled incandescent bulb verses one CFL with less than 5 mg of mercury to the landfills. "
Where do you get your ideas? Both types of bulbs generally use lead solder. And you recycle your incandescents the same as you do for CFLs.
Don't send EITHER type to the landfill.
CFLs are every bit as good as they are reported to be. I have been buying them for four or five years now. I have never had a single one break or stop working in that entire time. I have actually noticed my electric bills go down, slightly, but appreciable difference nonetheless. They don't flicker or cause any weird heart rhythms or other bizarre claims I have heard people throw out there. If you were to drop and break a box of them sure maybe you should be a little careful. And if it's only one, use cloth or something, but come on that little bit of mercury will do nothing.
Mercury doesn't stay in your body so you have to be in direct contact with a substantial amount of that stuff over a period of time for you to be at risk. Toxic levels are far above what's in the bulb. It's like the insane overreaction with fish. Mercury is toxic, but unless you are eating swordfish for every meal for several years straight, don't sweat it. Mercury poisoning is something you see in occupational situations with workers who breathe that stuff in or have contact with it on a daily basis. It's just not the danger that people make it out to be. Sure be careful but don't be foolish.
"They don't flicker or cause any weird..."
They DO flicker. But many people seem to be oblivious to it.
Same with CRT monitors on computers (for those who still have them). I know lots of people for whom anything under about 100 hertz refresh rate drives `em nuts (me included). And I knew a lot of people who couldn't even detect the refresh rate at 65.
Mercury does stay in your body and can cause a lot of harm. That's why so many people have their mercury fillings replaced and have to go to some lengths to have the mercury discharged from their body.
Another green "solution" that cause more damage. Ethanol, anyone?
I have a better idea: Rather than adding yet another kind of toxic electronics into the waste stream, keep your lights off as much as possible.
People who buy and use CFL's are well-meaning sheeple. It's a classic case of a solution being worse than the problem. I have one CFL that the power company gave to me. Rather than calling in HazMat to dispose of it, I put it in the porch fixture, which has a solid metal enclosure, so I'm pretty sure it won't break. Not sure what I'll do when it burns out. Sell the house?
There's another alternative to CFL's called Halogenas. They're just like incandescents and can be put on a dimmer, but they're much brighter than equivalent-wattage incandescents, last much longer, and the light actually looks good. I don't believe any heavy elements are involved.
Aren't the new halogen bulbs really expensive?
>Aren't the new halogen bulbs really expensive?
I don't think so. They aren't dirt-cheap like incandescents, but maybe something like $3.50 per bulb. I'm a cheapskate so I'm sure I didn't pay more than $5, and I haven't had one burn out yet.
I just bought one at Home Depot a 60 watt and it was about $8.50, guaranteed for 7 years but I have used fluorescent lighting for 30 years and depending on how often you turn them on and off they can last well beyond that. Also, GE told us that it is the cost of refiring the the bulb that increases the electrical cost, so you may not want to turn a light off every time you go in and out of the room.
I saw a report yesterday about a newer lightbulb that has no mercury at all and lasts longer than anything out there now. It costs $130.00!!! The company spokewoman said though that the price will come down within a month. Great marketing huh? Who's going to spend $130.00 when the price comes down in 30 days?
Thanks for mentioning halogenas. I agree that these CFL's are a terrible idea.
The CFLs suck. They break ALL THE TIME. I stopped using them, een though I really enjoyed the power savings. But its not worth it when the bulbs break for no reason after 2 weeks of use. They are not as reliable as claimed.
And they probably take a lot of energy to manufacture, with all those semicondiuctor components and whatnot. The extra power they require to manufacture probably overwhelms the every savings from usage.
I have gone back to regular incandescents. They look better too, and dont flicker.
Also, CFLs can cause insomnia and circadian rhythm problems in some people, due to the large amount of blue light emitted.
I am almost afraid to ask this, but what on earth are you doing with those lightbulbs? The glass on those are thicker than a normal light bulb. I don't know about you, but my lightbulbs are usually insulated from direct contact by lampshades or other fixtures. Are you using your lamps as lightsabers? Are you playing baseball with the bulbs themselves? Seriously.
First of all CFL bulbs don't flicker. You're thinking of the long tubes, and why you would have those in your house I don't know. I'm not sure if you're buying some cheap knock off CFL bulbs, but I have never seen anyone of mine flicker even slightly. Maybe you have some Ukranian CFL's if they flicker and emit "large amount of blue light emitted."
As far as the insomnia goes...I kinda outgrew the need for nightlights when I was like oh, say five, so I usually turn my lights off when I go to bed. Actually in general if I kept the lights in bedroom on, I think I would have "insomnia" regardless of what kind of bulbs I used.
Also, the energy it takes to make them is not appreciably higher than the amount of energy and waste required to turn tungsten into filaments. They really aren't all that difficult to manufacture. Simply because something contains chemicals like mercury doesn't mean that manufacturing costs are necessarily that much higher.
We changed over to CFLs last year and I have dropped several since then. Only one broke. Interestingly, I figured out the cleanup precautions on my own, and they came pretty close to what the Feds recommend.
LED lights will replace CFL bulbs in the near future. You can help by buying LED bulbs now. They're safer, last longer and use less energy.
This is highly over-hyped. Unless you plan on standing in an enclosed and unventilated room and tossing hundreds of these things at the wall, you don't really need to be over concerned. They only contain TRACE amounts of Mercury. The thermometer in your bathroom has 100 to 500 times more Mercury. The energy savings alone make them a responsible choice, and I've only burned out 2 in 3 years. My energy savings has been substantial. The new LED's will be even better....
They contain about 5 mg mercury per bulb. Most of that is adsorbed onto the phosphor and glass. So cleaning it up removes most of it.
However, 5mg can create a hazard in an enclosed space or to someone that is sensitive to mercury.
How substantial have your energy savings been, really?
It boggles the mind that people are willing to bring unneccessary, indestructible poisons into their home to save a few dollars or because they think the energy savings will help the planet, while up and down their block are very-high-powered street lights, one every 50 feet or so, that burn constantly for 10-14 hours per day, 365 days a year.
Seriously, how many CFL replacements would it take to offset the needs of one street light? And how many of these street lights are there...on your block, in your city, the U.S., the world?
You don't understand. These people feel good about it. Like separating garbage like the Germans do. Plastic, paper, and food. They get one container and the garbage man comes every 2 weeks. Big fine for burying it, too.
Elemental mercury is not nearly as hazardous as organo-mercury compounds such as dimethylmercury, which are commonly found in the flesh of certain fish species as a result of bio-accumulation through the food chain. That being said, it it still worth the effort to clean up a mercury spill, as small as it seems. Flowers of sulfur, obtained at the drug store, will aid in stabilizing the small amout of mercury in a broken bulb or thermometer.
I'm sticking with regular bulbs until someone can tell me how to safely clean up this "CFL Mercury mess"!
What a disaster! But I'm happy to read this because last week, I just bought a bunch of 100W/75W/60W bulbs. Now I won't feel guilty using them.
It's not a mess if you recycle them. Lowe's and Home Depot both are recycling center for the CFL bulbs. Also, instead of using incandescent because you're concerned with CFL, try using the LED bulbs. I just refitted the upstairs lights with LED (and while they're a little more expensive) and will switch over to LED as they burn out.
The very accurate mercury-based fever thermometers were eliminated because when they were thrown away the mercury would contaminate landfills.
Then we start repacing the environmentally safe incandescent light bulbs with mercury-based bulbs, which would not only contaminate landfills when they are thrown away, but contaminate our living areas when they break.
Go figure. Clearly this is a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.
Mercury is a very dangerous substance. Untll LED bulbs are generally available, the environmentally safe thing to do is to stick with the clean incandescent bulbs and not use the environmentally dangerous mercury-based bulbs. The benefit in avoiding mercury pollution far exceeds the cost of the extra electricity used by the incandescent bulbs.
As far as the problem with coal fired electric power plants putting mercury into the air, the solution is to move rapidly toward solar, wind, and other kinds of alternative energy, or as an interim solution, removing the mercury from the smoke before it is allowed to be put into the atmosphere. I am strongly pro-environment, but some environmental schemes have not been thought out thoroughly and turn out to be counter-productive. Mercury-based light bulbs are one case, gasohol from corn is another. Clearly programs to clean up the environment need to be analyzed thoroughly for possible unintended consequences before going ahead with them full steam.
There is a lot of misinformation about CFL's out there and obviously a lot of educational work needs to be done. Batteries, old cell phones and other common household materials contain mercury in them! In fact, an old fashioned TOOTH FILLING contains more mercury than a single CFL bulb.
All household hazardous waste (CFL bulbs, batteries, old cell phones, etc.) should be disposed of properly. Check your municipal web site for disposal options. You can also bring spent bulbs to Home Depot stores.
On average each bulb contains about 3-5mg of mercury (about 1/5th of that found in the average watch battery and 1/100th of the mercury found in an amalgam dental filling. This is also far less than the amount of mercury that would go into the open environment and air from burning coal used to power an inefficient incandescent bulb!
A dirty coal-fired power plant will release about 10mg of mercury into the air to power one inefficient incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4mg to power a CFL bulb over the same time.
Most schools, classrooms, churches, office buildings, etc. contain either CFL bulbs or CFL tubes with mercury in them. You or your child probably has been sitting under them for years without even realizing it.
when you eat fish you're more likely ingesting more mercury than the 2 milligrams of mercury you may come in contact with from a broken bulb. Geeze...
"Check your municipal web site for disposal options."
I have checked. There are no safe disposal options where I live.
Even when there are safe options, most people will throw them into the thrash.
Mercury-based bulbs are a dangerous environmental hazard. The should be banned.
I will not have them in my apartment.
"an old fashioned TOOTH FILLING contains more mercury than a single CFL bulb."
I have had all my mercury toot fillings replaced by non-mercury ones.
No one should let a dentist put Mercury-based fillings in ones mouth.
And mercury should be removed from flu shots.
"when you eat fish you're more likely ingesting more mercury than the 2 milligrams of mercury you may come in contact with from a broken bulb."
One should avoid fish that are high in Mercury, such as Tuna and limit oneself to the ones that are relatively low in Mercury.
my point was people are in contact with mercury in some way or another all of the time. mercury poisoning or anything life threatening is an EXPOSURE issue. you have to be exposed to it for long periods of time for any serious consequences to occur.
if you're really worried about mercury you shouldn't be using incandescents! Hopefully you invested in LED's. Incandescent bulbs are horrible for the environment. Countless studies have shown, that incandescent bulbs release far greater amounts of airborne mercury (which you breathe into your lungs, rivers, lakes, streams, etc) over their lifetime than CFL's.
I have CFL's in every light in my home and I've never had one break, my electricity bills are extremely low and I haven't had any burn out yet. If one does, I will put it in a bag and take it to Home Depot to be properly recycled.
You are totally wrong about a serving (or 10 servings) of fish containing 2 mg of mercury.
Fish contain methyl mercury, which is more toxic and much more easily absorbed than metalliz mercury in a CLF.
Fish contain up to 1 ppm mercury (1 microgram per gram) Youw ould have to eat 2 kg of teh most highly contaminated fish or shark to get 2 mg.
mercury dental fillings are hazardous, though they release metallic mercury instead of methyl mercury. There are very good reasons why they are banned in most of europe and even the corporate-friendly FDA recommends against putting mercury fillings in chldren and pregnant women (DUH!).
You dont know what you are talking about.
If you want fluorescent lighting go with the old fashioned tubular type lights. They do not have the high levels of mercury. Those miniature ones are more trouble than they are worth.
This is shaping up to be another government debacle like palm oil and ethanol. The EU promotes palm oil diesel (it is renewable) and later finds out that Thailand and others are eliminating huge swaths of jungle to plant palm trees (where did they think the palm oil came from)....b
Now they want to ban (i.e. make them a crime) incandescent bulbs. In the winter (here where it gets cold) they turn all of the electricity into heat (useful) or light.
It is getting weird.
But they feel good thinking they're making a difference. The consequences don't matter.
Remember what your Mom told you to do when you left a room?
Turn off the light!
Time to start remembering to do so!
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