Dangers of energy efficient bulbs

This story is a lot of baloney. Small amounts of mercury have been in fluorescent light bulbs for decades. The lights in public schools, lights in shopping centers and even lights in hospitals are all fluorescent and all contain mercury.Granted if they are broken care most be taken. But for safety purposes their glass construction is stronger than traditional incadescent lights.

funny you have to drive a car and make a special trip to recyle this toxic bulb how much energy are we actually saving?

does this apply to cfl's also? that's very disturbing since we at home have made the switch to them to save energy and money. what can we do about this if incandescents are being phased out?

oh please dont tell me you people believe this hogwash?

1. The amount of UV radiation emitted is FAR FAR FAR less compared to walking outside in the sun. The same amount of UV from one hour in the sun would take a year under a florescent bulb.

2. UV light CANNOT penetrate glass and most plastics. The plastic is usually designed to allow UV to pass through. ie. tanning beds.

3. DONT BREAK THEM! no duh there is mercury in them they are Florescent bulbs... If a break occurs dont breath, let the dust settle and clean it up.

I'm surprised that such things are not widely known.

Thanks for this important post, Maggie.

The other day I accidentally broke one of these CFL and I had to run out of the room immediately to not inhale its fumes. I comeback latter with mask and gloves to clean up the mess. Now, disposing the mess become another issue as I do not want to throw it in the City recycle bin. Researching on Google, my top hit was;

http://earth911.com/blog/2008/05/19/cfl-recycling-rates-remain-low/

There are many types of bulbs that have been around for years and contain mercury as well:
Fluorescents, including linear straight tubes, U-shaped, circular and compact fluorescents, Neon bulbs, Ultraviolet bulbs, High-intensity discharge bulbs (HID) which include: Mercury vapor, Metal halide and High pressure sodium.
If disposed of properly the risk is very small. Why have we not heard of the "risks" from these types of bulbs?

Burning coal releases mercury too. The amount of coal saved from burning by switching to CFL actually means that you keeping gaseous mercury out of the atmosphere. So fight your battles. CFL lightbulbs can be safely disposed of at collection bins at Home Depot and other places. Similar to fluorescent tubes, a broken CFL bulb will release mercury into the air....so don't breathe it in dumbasses.

Who didn't know these bulbs have mercury? This video is pretty ridiculous.

I honestly thought it was common knowledge that CFL bulbs were toxic, I mean, it says so right on the box.

I have a question. When LNG (LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS) IS converted back to gas (re gasified) what are the dangers?
I live in Ireland and am researching that right now. Pierce Brosnan (the former James Bond) put in an objection to it here after campaigning against a re gasification terminal in California (where he moved to).
Does some of the groundwater get contaminated or what? Pierce said it was a health and safety risk .....on both the California terminal and the one here.

Anyone able to tell me please?

They did studies on this years ago. The radiation isn't a health hazard even at 10cm, and the emissions decrease rapidly at further distances.

And I thought everyone knew fluorescent bulbs had mercury, they run on mercury vapor after all.

Another thing that was pushed down the publics throat by the government that ended up biting us in the ass.

Thank you.

Does she or her son break the bulbs (kids like to break things) while throwing them away? How did the mercury get released? This story is unfortunate but all things come with inherent risks.

Unfortunately LED lights are very expensive, and like many others, I have CFLs throughout the house.
As soon as the price of LEDs comes down...I'm replacing every bulb.

It's important to find an area recycler who will take and remake these CFL bulbs. My local hardware store does it for me.

Thank you so much for posting this article. Yes, indeed, mercury is toxic. Sadly, it is everywhere, in our teeth (if you have mercury fillings), in fish (if you eat fish), and in our air. This young boy was fortunate to have seen a doctor who understands the signs of mercury poisoning. Reducing energy use from fossil fuels does not mean we have to get crazy and substitute fire with fire... we, as citizens, and during this period of transition from fossil fuels to sustainable energy (solar and wind is the best we have) will need to get very smart very quickly to make wise choices if we are to leave a planet worth living on for future generations (that means your children if you have them and love them). Toxins have an adverse affect on our lives.... just the way it is, you put toxins in, you will experience sickness on various levels depending upon your own system, your lifestyle, and how much exposure you have. If you do a search on youtube for example, "mercury poisoning", you will find much information from professionals to parents speaking about mercury and other toxins.

Good thing the word is out.

ergggg.... my house is full of CFL's now. I hope they're not giving me skin cancer.

Nothing scarier to me than hearing that a suddenly controversial product has "Industry accepted levels of exposure.."

unbelievable.

This is why they should stop pushing those bulbs and start pushing LED bulbs. They last longer and there aren't any adverse side effects from dangerous elements.