The Dark Side of Light Bulbs
Educate Yourself on the Dangers of Using the new CFLs
Hailed by everyone, including energy star and Al Gore as the next best thing, the new CFLs come with hidden dangers that can be overcome with knowledge.
In the past several months, environmentally conscious consumers have been hit with a one-two punch, leaving them breathless and needing more information regarding the new Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFLs).
- A Prospect Maine Housewife reports unacceptable mercury levels in her home after replacing all of her incandescent bulbs with florescent bulbs!
- Philips corporation announces their intention to cease distribution of incandescent bulbs to the US and European nations by 2016.
On the outside, it looks like consumers are once again put between a rock and a hard place; until we look at all of the facts:
The dark-side of CFLs: CFLs contain approximately 4mg - 5 mg of mercury per bulb. Mercury can cause many problems when inhaled, and can affect our brains, spinal cords, kidneys and livers.
The bright side of CFLs: They are energy efficient. They save the average household approximately $50 per year when all bulbs are replaced Using CFLs can actually lower our mercury exposure because CFLs use 75% less energy than an incandescent bulb! In an ironic twist, using CFLs limits our exposure to mercury because a power plant emits 10 mg to run an incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4mg of mercury to run a CFL for the same amount of time!
Now let’s take on the report of Brandy Bridges of Prospect Maine: While switching bulbs in her daughter’s bedroom, a CFL fell to the floor and shattered in the shag carpeting. Being a knowledgeable consumer, Bridges knew that CFLs were not to be disposed of in same way as traditional bulbs, so she called the store where she bought the bulb. The man at the store cautioned her not to vacuum the bulb up and to call poison control. She called poison control who then told her to have her home tested for mercury levels, which she did. The only place the mercury levels were reportedly high, was in the room where the bulb had shattered, she was told to call an environmental cleaning crew who gave her a quote of over $2,000 for clean up - which she could not afford. She has now sealed the room in fear. Unfortunately, she was the victim of bad advice.
True: Mercury can be hazards when handled improperly.
False: You need a professional environmental cleaning crew to clean up a broken or replaced CFL.
What you need to know before you bring home the bulbs:
- Go to a website such as Earth911.org before bringing the bulbs home to find the closest recycling center for the bulbs. In our area, more than 10 local places came up, although the EPA reports CFL recycling or collection points lag 5 years behind demand for the bulbs. Keep bulbs out of the reach of your children, just as you would any other toxic substance like paint or home cleaners.
- Dispose of bulbs in the proper manner - by sealing them in a plastic bag and taking them to a recycler that handles hazardless household wastes. If recycling is not possible, seal bulb in a plastic bag and place in regular trash.
- If you break a bulb: DO NOT VACUUM! Doing so disperses particles even more and then traps the mercury in your vac bag - possibly to be dispersed each time you use your vacuum after that! Keep children and pets away from the ventilated area for at least 15 minutes so vapors can evaporate. Clean up by hand using disposable materials including disposable rubber gloves and a stiff piece of cardboard to collect the pieces by sweeping them onto the board with damp paper towels. Put pieces and cardboard into a sealed plastic bag. Perhaps the greatest danger you are exposed to is broken glass!
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