Get everyone out (especially pets, who might be inclined to investigate the mess), then open the windows and shut the doors. Still, to be safe, you'll want to be sure that you clean the mess up correctly - here's how to do just that, per EPA standards.īroken-cfl-2.jpg Colin West McDonald/CNETĪs soon as that bulb breaks, you'll want to let the room air out for about 15 minutes. While mercury is nothing to play around with, the amount contained inside a standard CFL is only about 1 percent of the amount that you'll find inside an old-fashioned mercury thermometer. So what do you do when one of these bulbs breaks, releasing that toxic mercury into your home?įirst things first, you don't need to panic. Just follow these steps to safely get things cleaned up.įluorescent lights get their glow from the mercury trapped inside, and the compact fluorescents (CFLs) used for energy efficient household lighting are no different. If a fluorescent light comes crashing down onto your kitchen floor, releasing the mercury trapped within, you don't need to panic. (Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.) mercury is a hazardous substance, these lightbulbs should be disposed of in accordance with hazardous waste regulations.”. The Environment Agency website has this to say on low energy lightbulbs: “Energy saving light bulbs and fluorescent light tubes contain small amounts of mercury. If you smash a low energy lightbulb, the advice from the Department for the Environment is to vacate the room for 15 minutes.” Tungsten is a harmless metal, like gold, it does not react with anything and yet now, in the name of conserving energy, we have low energy light bulbs full of toxic chemicals, including mercury vapour, which is poisonous. Europe has outlawed the tungsten lightbulb. He adds: “Light bulbs are a good example of the contradiction with the green movement. Having had some close calls with toxic environments myself, I apologise that I did not draw attention before to the risks, but I had completely overlooked them as I thought they were probably alarmist when I was posting an item in the Basement which included this:įrom an interview with Prof Les Woodcock in the Yorkshire Evening Post. (However, I now feel like I've been conned by the lightbulb manufacturers.) The advice at the end of the CNET post seems pretty sensible. I have them all over the house, and when they have been broken, I would just sweep the bits up and throw them in the trash without a second's thought. I am all for low-energy lightbulbs for reasons of energy conservation and minimising overall power consumption costs. Whilst it is presumed to be safe (trapped) in mercury amalgam tooth fillings, having free mercury or its compounds in the environment is quite a different matter. Mercury is highly toxic and accumulates in the body. I actually had not realised that these bulbs had that much mercury in them. I thought CNET's advice (copied below) was a tad excessive, but not after I did some fact-checking on this. Lovely.Posted across from CNET as a warning and for information/use of other DC denizens - especially relevant if they, like me, have young children. She wants to contribute to society by painting, recycling, and… not slashing additional throats. * Jodi Arias is now begging jurors to allow her to live out the rest of her days in prison. It’s time to try that acting thing again, because only 41 percent of all test takers passed the exam. * The results for the February 2013 bar exam in California are out, and they’re frightening. You better hope you get your clinic placements in order, people. * It looks like New Jersey may soon be hopping aboard the pro bono work before bar admission train. It’s too bad this legal alliance didn’t exist before the Bernie Madoff scandal. * Twenty-two law firms are banding together to fight against fraudulent financial products on a worldwide scale. According to the latest Altman Weil survey, most law firm leaders think all of these fun recession-driven changes are here to stay. * Attention naysayers: it may be time to face the music. Circuit ruled that the top secret Osama bin Laden death photos will remain top secret, but the internet’s desperate cries of “pics or it didn’t happen” will live on in our hearts. She’ll invoke her Fifth Amendment rights before the House Oversight Committee today. * IRS official Lois Lerner may not be very “good at math,” but at least she seems to know the basic principles of constitutional law. Of course, the amendments in support of gay marriage didn’t make it in, but that may be moot soon anyway. * A bipartisan immigration reform bill made its way through the Senate Judiciary Committee and will head to the Senate floor. Circuit, Immigration, Money, Morning Docket, Murder, New Jersey, Pictures, Pro Bono, Senate Judiciary Committee, Trials, War on Terror Bar Exams, Bernie Madoff, Biglaw, California, D.C.
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