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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these light bulbs are the worst. no only are the highly toxic when broken, they can break really easy. they dont last as long as they are claimed to be. they cant be dimmed to save energy, [so do but are expensive]
and they dont fit in all light fixtures well or at all.... dont let kids handle it either......... so much for green light bulbs.....
they do run cool, and use less electricity but where do you dispose of this without the major mercury leakage in a dump or recycle center..................
and how many of you know how much nickel is in your hybrid battery???? do you know how that battery is made. they are destroying whole areas for nickel in china, and asia, and shipping it to third world areas to dispose of when the battery is toast.............
green isnt always.................
Due to terrible power factor cfl's take double the current of their rated wattage. Meaning, the true energy usage of cfl's is much more than the rated watts. So your 20 watt cfl actually takes 30 watts of current for example.
Wattage is not potential energy, it is the electrical energy expended. The proper term would be that it "pulls", expends, uses, etc.. 30 watts.
Call me an illuminated Luddite.
This makes the old fashioned incandescent light bulb look down right green.
I have yet to see a carbon footprint and environmental analysis of the CFL. I bet that if someone was to do a cradle to grave assessment factoring environmental costs, the old fashioned light bulb would look pretty good.
Yea, there is some short term efficiency associated with decreased electrical consumption during the practical use period, but how much energy does it take to mine the raw materials, materials, ship them to China, manufacture the unit, ship the product and distribute it around the the world, power consumption during normal use and then dispose of the damn thing.
Another point: if the current U.S power generating capacity is capable of handling the next wave of EV cars, how come there is not enough power to use conventional light bulbs. I just don't see the cost/benefit of switching to CFLs. Its nothing but a big scam perpetuated by those who make CFLs.
I'm another Luddite....never wanted these horrible CFL's and now I know why! How about back to firelight, candles and going to bed when the sun goes down?
Yet another of the unintended consequences of the green left.
How many people are actually going to dispose of thess properly? Very few.
The rest will end up in landfills.
Maybewe can name the mercury Poisoning Treatment Center after Al Gore.
Wow! This is terrifying!
Just kidding. When I was a kid we used to get a little mercury from our dentist and play with it.
Those bulbs sure sound "green" what with all that mercury in them. Not. I'm sure nobody in America ever just throws them in the trash when they burn out. Not.
Not to mention they are all made in China.
The next generation lighting known as SSL will be nontoxic and even more efficient than the 'curley bulbs'. In the meantime, recycle your CFLs at Home Depot or Ikea.
Very much supportive of the points made in this article. I want to point out, however, how inconvenient cities have made it to properly dispose of these toxic waste products, especially during this recession. Budget cuts across the country are forcing municipalities to cut back on the availability of safer and cleaner toxic agent disposal. It's gotten so inconvenient (in some cases, impossible) to "do the right thing" that people are just throwing these items in the trash. We're going to pay for this dearly in the future. I'd encourage everyone interested in this topic to check into their own municipality's waste disposal policies and to put pressure on their local reps to keep these services available.
Oh crap! I have two of these bulbs in my bedroom - I think I may replace them with the new LED bulbs after reading this!
Don't buy the LEDs yet. Wait for the Energy Star rated ones. The bulbs out today don't yet deliver as promised.
It is still a far better option to those worthless miniature fluorescent bulbs. Those bulbs are a menace. I didn't realize that the dangers weren't well known before now. I guess it takes awhile for the information to circulate...
The clean-up procedure you recommend is obvious overkill. Besides, only Adrian Monk would actually do all that. The tiny amount of mercury vapor in a single bulb should be of no concern to anyone but pregnant women and babies. Even then, there's no reason to freak out.
I am not the one recommending this clean-up policy. The US government is recommending it. I simply posted their "what to do" list, gave them credit and linked to more information. I was startled to see all of these extremely scary sounding procedures that our leaders say we should follow if we break a little bulb. But just to be safe, we did the clean up according to the guidelines. I've got three children and a dog and I did not want anyone exposed unnecessarily to a toxin. I too played with Mercury from broken thermometers when I was a child. I have limited my intake of certain foods to lower the risk of Mercury poisoning and have had cavities replaced in the interest of preventative medicine.
LED bulbs do seem to be the wave of the future, however they are currently very expensive as light bulbs go, and experts expect the price will be going down within a few years.
These regs were recently lightened up in the UK and the same should happen here.
20 years ago if one single drop of mercury was in a river the eco-freaks would have a heart attack. Now governments want to legislate it in our lightbulbs. It's insanity.
A "single drop" of mercury is a LOT.
Reducing power consumption via fluoescents will reduce mercury emissions from coal plants. It would be nice top have mercury-free fluorescents.
There are definitely issues with fluorescent bulbs and enviros certainly have mixed feelings about them.
Dont portray enviros as confused or contradictory. We're not.
Compact fluorescents have about 5 mg of mercury per bulb, in metallic form.
& for good reason...
What's insanity is the fact that eating fish from local streams can give you toxic levels of mercury buildup, and yet fools like you still use terms like "eco-freaks".
The reason these kinds of guidelines are needed is because if you don't deal correctly with individual occurrences, they quickly add up. Sure, this seems like a lot of bother; a golden market opportunity for someone selling CFL cleanup kits. Yes, it seems paradoxical that something ecologically friendly in one way (reduced energy use means reduced greenhouse gas) is ecologically unfriendly in another (requires toxic mercury). LEDs are improving all the time, and have already been suggested.
I don't remember this warning being on the package of bulbs I bought, so when one broke a few months ago, I just swept it up and sponged the shiny stuff off the floor. Frankly, if these things require hazmat procedures for cleanup, they're too dangerous for household use and need to be redesigned.
But I wonder whether all the concern is truly warranted. I remember handling mercury in school, when the teacher passed around a ball of it in class as a "hands on" lesson. I liked it so much, she gave me my own ball, but broke it into tiny pellets and I couldn't get them back together again, so I threw it away. We had slabs of asbestos in the chem lab, too.
Can we have this same columnist do an article about filling the windshield washer in her car? Those same sources would have her wearing a respirator, face shield, and rubber gloves to protect her from the poisonous methanol.
Common sense!
Where's the source for 300,000 CFLs a year going into landfills? Interesting number, since the coal plant nearest here emits that much mercury . . . in just 5 days! And that's a relatively small plant, too.
Afraid of mercury? Then save electricity. And CFLs are an effective way to do just that.
I might be one of the few who prefers florescent light to incandescent. I like the white light more than the more yellow light.
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