Fluorescent bulbs poison environment, kids

[anthson]

Gee, folks thought they were being green. Now it's apparent these things are toxic and dangerous to children and the environment (along with adults that accidentally break them, I guess).

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?se...cal&id=5340438

I suggest GE Reveal bulbs. Mostly because they give off light that looks GREAT. If you want to be green, forgo air conditioning this summer

[Snrrub]

Creating a large scale infrastructure for recycling flourescent bulbs is definitely something that needs to happen now that they're so popular.

In terms of the danger related to breaking a bulb,

"No need to panic if you break a fluorescent bulb. Experts say just air out the room, sweep up the glass and debris and put it into a sealed container."

[Blog]

Sure, if you spill 5 mg of mercury in your carpet, just pick it up with tape then let your babies play there all day.

[Snrrub]

Originally posted by Blog
Sure, if you spill 5 mg of mercury in your carpet, just pick it up with tape then let your babies play there all day.

5 mg of mercury has a volume of only 0.00037 mL, and it will quickly vaporize and diffuse in the air.

[anthson]

I've read a few articles on the Internet regarding mercury poisoning and these light bulbs. Frankly, they all vary in terms of just how dangerous a bulb is. They all recommend the same type of clean-up, but one will say the danger is minimal and the other will say the danger is high. In any case, even if you don't bust one in your house, how's it going down with Americans throwing these in garbage cans to the tune of however-many thousands a year? You can encourage recycling 'till the cows come home, but people don't recycle their cell phones and they're certainly not going to make a special trip just to recycle their light bulbs. I don't even recycle my motor oil!

[Savaric]

I can't remember the last time I broke a light bulb.

[Grantref]

Quit fear-mongering, Anthson. Even if you do not recycle the bulbs, the amount of mercury they release is less than the amount emitted by the coal needed to produce the energy that the bulb saves versus incandescent bulbs.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

Try getting your news somewhere else than Wingnut Daily... sorry I mean World Net Daily

[Rosuav]

Breaking fluro tubes isn't that bad. Whenever we have one die, we always stick it in a few layers of plastic bags and then smash it (this is those long room-illuminating ones - 3m long I think - so they don't fit in the bin otherwise). The main worry is glass fragments, not mercury. Of course, we do this in outside or in a ventilated environment, so it's not going to be a big deal.

What I'd like to see, though, is LED-based light bulbs. They do exist - Mythbusters tested one in their array of bulb-like lights (checking for initial and ongoing energy use) - but I've not seen them in general availability here in Australia. Are they available elsewhere?

[anthson]

Originally posted by Grantref
Try getting your news somewhere else than Wingnut Daily... sorry I mean World Net Daily

Lay off the h8orade. I don't even know what World Net Daily is. As for fear mongering, I'm not exactly a green person, so I have no reason to monger in fear over the environment. I just found it interesting these things are toxic.

[Blog]

Originally posted by Snrrub
5 mg of mercury has a volume of only 0.00037 mL, and it will quickly vaporize and diffuse in the air.

Your child, not mine:

0.05 mg/m3 is National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health's recommended exposure limit; NIOSH-recommended exposure limit for an 8- or 10-h time-weighted-average exposure and/or ceiling. Again, 1 lightbulb is 5 mg.

How big is your room?

http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/mercury.html