High-efficient lightbulbs come with mercury risk - The Boston Globe
Nothing is "free".... you can have an efficient light bulb, but it's hazardous if broken. I actually had a 7-year CF bulb fail on me (actually it never worked, it was DOA). It's sitting on a shelf in my office because I don't know how to dispose of it. Throwing it in the garbage just didn't seem right, but I don't want to make a special trip to the hazardous dump just for one bulb... and I've always suspected that our local hazardous dump just throws everything away anyways (totally unfounded cynicism on my part)
This bulb isn't broken... but if it had broken...
In addition to this hazard, I've always wonder how much energy is used and pollution is produced in the manufacturing of the bulbs. Since they are more expensive, they must take more energy, more expensive material, or more manpower to make than normal bulbs. So I wonder what the life-cycle cost really is in both energy and pollution terms. Then add to that disposal costs, and I wonder if these things make as much sense as everyone says...If a bulb breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum -- even on a rug -- to clean up a compact fluorescent light. Instead, while wearing rubber gloves, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel.
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Thanks to the Volokh Conspiracy for the link and of course Instapundit which is where I saw it first.
1 comments:
Most CFLs today on the market contain less than 5mgs of mercury and there are CFL options out there that contain as little as 1.5mgs of mercury- which can hardly be called a “significant amounts of mercury” considering that many item in your home contain 100s of times more of mercury including your computer. Mercury levels in CFLs can never be “nonexistent” since mercury is a necessary component of a CFL and there is no other known element that is capable of replacing it. But CFLs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output”.
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