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7:32:00 AM EDT
Mercury in Fluorescent Light Bulbs: The Scoop
The Bulbs Are Safe to Use: Many people commented on my last post about compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) that they won't use the bulbs because the bulbs contain mercury. Once the bulbs burn out, they become household hazardous waste. This seems to have scared many folks away from using the bulbs, even though these lights save energy and money.
I asked people at the EPA's Energy Star program how much we need to worry about the mercury in fluorescent light bulbs. They said the bulbs do contain a tiny bit of mercury -- about 5 milligrams (equivalent in size to the tip of a ballpoint pen) -- but they are safe to use and EPA recommends using them. Old mercury thermometers contain about 100 times as much mercury and some thermostats contain 600 times as much as a CFL. See the current Energy Star fact sheet about mercury here. (Note: This sheet is being revised and I will post a link to the new one as soon as I get it.)
If you drop a CFL on the floor and it breaks, Energy Star says the broken glass poses the greatest danger to you, because the amount of mercury in the bulb is so small.
You should not, however, throw CFLs away in the garbage if better options exist, such as recycling or disposing them via the hazardous waste guidelines for your area. Check earth911.org for disposal options in your ZIP code, or lamprecycle.org for recycling options.
Coal-fired power plants are the largest manmade source of mercury emissions in the United States. By using CFLs, you use less power and thus cause fewer mercury emissions from the plant. Airborne mercury emissions from power plants end up in our waterways and then build up in the bodies of fish as methylmercury. Your greatest exposure to mercury is from eating fish. Methylmercury is especially dangerous to pregnant women or women who might become pregnant, because it crosses the placenta and damages the brain and nervous system of the fetus.
Nutrionist Marion Nestle summarizes the research on mercury in fish in her excellent 2006 book 'What to Eat.' In it, she notes that the EPA and the FDA advised in 2004 that pregnant women (or women who might become pregnant) avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, and limit their consumption of albacore tuna and other fish. She also notes that young children should not eat much mercury-laden fish, either.
If you're concerned about mercury, be worried about fish more than light bulbs. Learn more about mercury at this EPA site.
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Mercury-cell chlorine plants are also a major source of mercury air and water pollution in the US; in some states, one chlorine plant alone can be responsible for more than a quarter of the state's mercury air pollution! Chlorine plants are often overlooked in comparison to coal-fired power plants, but in several cases the pollution released from the mercury-cell chlorine plant dwarfs that of every coal-fired power plant in the state.
Furthermore, much of this pollution is unnecessary for chlorine production with the new technology. Five plants--located in Georgia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Ohio--continue to use antiquated, high energy-consuming processes developed in 1894. They refuse to upgrade despite the many benefits from doing so.
To learn more about the contamination caused by the chlorine industry, check out <a href="http://www.oceana.org/north-america/what-we-do/stop-seafood -contamination/chlorine-plant- campaign/">Oceana's campaign</a> to persuade the "Filthy Five" chlorine plants to upgrade their pollution-causing processes. Oceana is also working on a <a href="http://www.oceana.org/north-a merica/what-we-do/stop-seafood -contamination/grocery-store-c ampaign/">campaign</a> to help get the word out about mercury contamination in fish. Their goal is for all grocery stores across the nation to post the FDA's advice on which fish are safe to eat. We are lucky to be informed, knowledgeable consumers, but many people are not so lucky. Placing signs at seafood counters will inform consumers at the point of sale, when they most need the information. -
You are trying to make one size fit all. In cooler climates where heating your house is more of a factor than cooling, the heat (and energy) from the incandesant lamps is not wasted.
Plus how much more energy does it take to make the CFL's than the incandesants. Looking at their cost, I am assuming it is a lot. -
perhaps they are safe for household use. many homes have no other means of disposal, only their garbage. if you multiply the amount of mercury in landfills across Americam then how much is too much mercury?
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I added a lot of sites from your article to my Favorites . Thanks for all the good information.
5/23/07 5:28 PM
Furthermore, much of this pollution is unnecessary for chlorine production with the new technology. Five plants--located in Georgia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Ohio--continue to use antiquated, high energy-consuming processes developed in 1894. They refuse to upgrade despite the many benefits from doing so.
To learn more about the contamination caused by the chlorine industry, check out <a href="http://www.oceana.org/north-a