Residents warned of mercury exposure after fluorescent light bulbs dumped at Dallas playground

WFAA ^

[Arthurio]

DALLAS -- The parks and recreation department is warning residents near a south Dallas playground to be on the lookout for symptoms of mercury exposure after light bulbs were illegally dumped at the playground and a vacant lot across the street.

Nearly 1,000 electrical and fluorescent light bulbs were found Thursday at the Peary Play Lot in the 2800 block of Peary Ave. near Malcolm X Boulevard.

[Safetgiver]

Gee, over emote much? Where are your sources from this crap you spew? A light bulb is a light bulb and mercury, gaseous or not, ain’t gonna hurt anybody for the five seconds it takes to dissipate in air.

[Truthoverpower]

Look up mercury toxicity and then get back to me

You know not of what you speak

Mercury is very heavy and acts as a saturated liquid at room temp

Ny has 17 pages of regulations on how to clean up broken lamps

The EPA itself has 5 pages and the first thing they say is all people and pets leave the room

Your response is typical and is buttressed by what your own guvmint has neglected to tell you.

Like I said look up mercury toxicity and exposure limits and then read the data I have provided.

Trust me I’ve already defeated whole forums of industry shills

The facts on these lamps are shocking scary and must change

If you don’t think so then you are free to poison yourself but not others

[Safetgiver]

Ny has 17 pages of regulations on how to clean up broken lamps

The EPA itself has 5 pages and the first thing they say is all people and pets leave the room...And I believe ANYTHING the government (who is making and protecting their jobs into perpetuity)for what reason? I have worked with mercury (Gas and solids) for years and neither me, my workers and anybody else has had any ill effects, unless welding the shit. How many dentists have died SPECIFICALLY of the gas created from grinding down mercury fillings. Go back to sleep.

[dalereed]

I’ve smashed thousands of them when we have re bulbed a building. I guess I’m already dead according to the government.

[Truthoverpower]

Sir . you are in the IH or equivalent FIELD

I know you are tough and think the government is weenies as I do - and that mercury is no big deal

Please do not downplay the significance or danger of Mercury (g)

It is inhalable and the Atsdr cites a max exposure of .0002 mg/ m3

ource : http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mrls/mrllist.asp#24tag

Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for Hazardous Substances

MERCURY

Inh. Chr. 0.0002 mg/m3 30 Neurol. Final 03/1999 7439-97-6

The MAX exposure anyone should ever get is 0.1 mg/ m3 and with a 5 min exposure you would have to leave the site and not come back for min 24 hrs

http://www.webelements.com/mercury/

“As mercury is a very volatile element, dangerous levels are readily attained in air. Mercury vapour should not exceed 0.1 mg m-3 in air. Air saturated with the vapour at 20°C contains mercury in a concentration far greater than that limit. The danger increases at higher temperatures. It is therefore important that mercury be handled with care. Containers of mercury should be securely covered and spillage should be avoided. Mercury should only be handled under in a well-ventilated area. If you are in possession of any mercury you are advised to contact a properly qualified chemist or public health laboratory for its safe disposal.”

these lamps have 5-50 milligrams of Hg(g) in them and

ONE FOUR FOOT T8 LAMP HAS ~ 164 MILLION times this concentration inside it

ONE CFL LAMP HAS ~ 165 BILLION times this concentration inside it

This is not a joke and is very serious , even if you DONT drop dead from it - it is VERY HARMFUL

And it is HEAVY entrains itself in anything and does NOT disperse as you assert it NEVER goes away

please reflect upon this since you are in the field and not DOWNPLAY this danger to people, especially children and pregnant women

I am surprised at the cavlier attitude by someone in the field of haz waster or IH

It is really too bad- you should be an ALLY in this fight with the EPA who is shoving this crap down everyones throat and warning NO ONE about it

[Fresh Wind]

Once again, I am not a shill for anyone. Every time you say that you are lying.

And every time you trot that out ridiculous accusation of being a "purveyor of mercury" against anyone who isn't 100% in line with your beliefs, you damage your own credibility.

You've accused me of being a liberal. I have been on this site since 1998, you have been here a couple of months. Liberals don't last long here. Neither do trolls.

Why are you even here? You'd be more effective by starting a blog where you can advance your cause without having to deal with annoying people who challenge you on points of fact.

YOU are the one who raised the issue of RF emissions from CFL bulbs. YOU made the following statement:

They give off radio frequencies. They operate at 35000 hz. They destroy nearby electronics

Then YOU challenged me with this:

Plug in something expensive and sensitive to harmonics exit (sic) to one and see what happens. I dare you

That's simply a load of crap. If you are really a "power quality engineer" as you stated, you would know that.

What engineering degrees do you hold?

But why do I even bother asking, I don't think you've answered a single question I've asked in this entire discussion. I KNOW you won't answer that one.

The video you linked to suggested that the RF emissions from CFL bulbs is a health issue. If that's true, then virtually every other modern electronic device has that same issue, because they all emit RF energy. And the video I posted, which I'm sure you didn't watch, demonstrated that the particular LED bulb they used was worse than their sample CFL in this regard.

And now you're saying that the issue YOU raised is irrelevant.

OK. Whatever.

You say the LEDs for home use don't have ballasts. In fact each one of them contains a miniature switching mode power supply that is needed to convert the 120 VAC 60 Hz to the low DC voltage that the individual LED devices require. They perform a function that is analogous to that of the electronic ballast in a CFL bulb.

Like those ballasts, these power supplies also produce RF emissions, and they also have the potential for catastrophic failure which in rare cases can result in fires.

Are you aware that there is increasing concern that the spectral characteristics of LED lighting is causing sleep disorders for a lot of people?

Are you aware that Philips and GE make and sell LED replacement bulbs? Maybe YOU are the one who is shilling for those companies.

[Fresh Wind]

LOL!

Well, well, well, just caught you in another lie, Mr. Troll.

This site wasn’t in existence in 1995.

Now, since you say the proof is so easy, do it. Prove you were here in 1995.

I dare you.

[Fresh Wind]

By the way, and it’s a minor point, the standard incandescent bulb color temperature is approximately 2700K, not 3500K.

Just for fun, here’s another question that you will never be honest enough to answer.

You are obviously quite upset that Congress/Bush passed legislation which enabled the EPA to implement a move to high efficiency lighting. You feel that isn’t the role of the government, and that the marketplace should make that decision. Even though I’m a shill for the EPA, GE, Philips, and all the other “mercury purveyors”, I agree with you on that point.

Suppose tomorrow, the EPA handed down a regulation banning all mercury-containing lighting products.

Would you celebrate that, or would you decry even more government intervention in the marketplace?

A liberal would celebrate. A conservative would decry.

Which are you?

[Graybeard58]

Now, since you say the proof is so easy, do it. Prove you were here in 1995.

The phrase, "liar, liar, pants on fire" comes to mind.

[MD Expat in PA]

It is inhalable and the Atsdr cites a max exposure of .0002 mg/ m3

Hummm…..that chart you posted….the bolding and underlining mine.

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/mrls/index.asp

Minimal Risk Levels (MRLs) for Hazardous Substances

That’s right “minimal” not max exposure.

“An MRL is an estimate of the daily human exposure to a hazardous substance that is likely to be without appreciable risk of adverse non-cancer health effects over a specified duration of exposure. These substance specific estimates, which are intended to serve as screening levels, are used by ATSDR health assessors and other responders to identify contaminants and potential health effects that may be of concern at hazardous waste sites. It is important to note that MRLs are not intended to define clean up or action levels for ATSDR or other Agencies.”

And

“ATSDR uses the no observed adverse effect level/uncertainty factor (NOAEL/UF) approach to derive MRLs for hazardous substances. They are set below levels that, based on current information, might cause adverse health effects in the people most sensitive to such substance-induced effects. MRLs are derived for acute (1 14 days), intermediate (>14 364 days), and chronic (365 days and longer) exposure durations, and for the oral and inhalation routes of exposure. Currently MRLs for the dermal route of exposure are not derived because ATSDR has not yet identified a method suitable for this route of exposure. MRLs are generally based on the most sensitive substance-induced end point considered to be of relevance to humans. ATSDR does not use serious health effects (such as irreparable damage to the liver or kidneys, or birth defects) as a basis for establishing MRLs. Exposure to a level above the MRL does not mean that adverse health effects will occur.”

The section on Mercury shows Route = Inh. (Inhalation); Duration = Chr. (Chronic which according to the above = 365 days); MRL (minimal risk level) = 0.0002 mg/m3 (mg/M3= Milligram Per Cubic Meter).

That means you would have to be inhaling mercury vapor at a level of more than 0.0002 mg/m3 (at a concentration of that per cubic meter) over the course of 365 days in order to exceed the minimal risk levels.

This MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) shows an OHSA exposure limit in air for mercury vapor PEL (Permissible Exposure Level) of .5 mg/m3.

http://www.virginmercury.com/pdf/MSDS.pdf

If you are, as you stated earlier, a chemical engineer (or is that a power quality engineer certified by Elspec (and yes I looked them up – they manufacturer of electrical power quality analyzers, they are headquartered in Israel with offices in Illinois, Portugal and India, and they do not “certify” engineers ), I would think you would be able to read and understand a MRL and MSDS, no?

ONE FOUR FOOT T8 LAMP HAS ~ 164 MILLION times this concentration inside it….ONE CFL LAMP HAS ~ 165 BILLION times this concentration inside it

But on this thread it’s: “In fact most folks don’t know fluorescents contain about 100000000 times the concentration of mercury gas you should ever be exposed to”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3076141/posts?page=26#26

So which is it?

No. You are not only wrong but spectacularly wrong. I’d like you to show the math or provide a reputable link for those statements. You are full of hysteria and falsehoods and I won’t even get into the crap you never answered Fresh Wind about (florescent bulbs destroying electronics) and saying that you’ve been here at FR since 1995.

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and Mercury: Reality Check

How much mercury is contained in a CFL?

Each bulb contains an average of 5 milligrams of mercury, “which is just enough to cover a ballpoint pen tip,” says Leslie, associate director of the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer. “Though it’s nothing to laugh at, unless you wipe up mercury [without gloves] and then lick your hand, you’re probably going to be okay.”

What is the proper way to handle a broken CFL?

Open the windows and let the room air out for 15 to 30 minutes, then remove as much material as possible without a vacuum cleaner. Using disposable gloves, scoop the glass onto a piece of cardboard and wipe the area with a wet paper towel. For smaller pieces of glass and powder, use duct tape to pull up the fragments and wash your hands after cleaning up the debris.

OMG! The horror! WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! ELEVENTY! And

Dangerous Mercury in CFLs?

That’s right. You are exposed to much more mercury by eating fish than what you would be exposed to from a broken CFL bulb, assuming that you clean it up properly, which BTW, does not require a HAZMAT team, just a little common sense. You are also exposed to much more mercury vapor driving by a coal burning power plant (and you are not going to die from that either). For that matter there is much more mercury in amalgam dental fillings, glass thermometers, household thermostats, light switches and watch batteries than there is in a CLF bulb. And again the only mercury vapor exposure from a CLF bulb comes from breaking it.

And interestingly, while you are going apoplectic over alleged horrible dangers of CFL light bulbs, on this thread you are advising people to take colloidal silver. “You can make it for fee and NEVER get sick again.”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3075578/posts?page=6#6

I think you are a troll. I think you are a liberal troll who recently signed up here to make ridiculous claims to see how many gullible people you can get to believe your crap in order to laugh at them. The bad grammar and misspellings and wildly inconsistent posting styles from post to post is a big tip off. Trust me I’ve already defeated whole forums of industry shills

I smell ozone (a ZOT) in your very near future.

[Truthoverpower]

Sir (or ma’am)

Your long winded post is simply off base and irrelevant

More attempts to obscure the TRUTH which again for people who aren’t stupid or deliberately lying because of some commercial interest

#1. Fluorescent lamps are filled with mercury gas and will horribly poison you and permanently ruin wherever they are spilled with no odor

#2. These stupid awful crappy looking mercury vapor lamps. SERIOUSLY HARM sensitive people and just plain bug most folks so much that they turn them off and exist in whatever ambient light is available rather than Suffer under them

Plain and simple you can’t argue with these facts.

So argue minutia of mercury toxicity and post irrelevant nonsense but that ain’t gonna get ya a Nobel prize buddy

My advice to all Freepers

Get these damn things out of your house or shop immediately

Cheers.

Big daddy

[Truthoverpower]

Oh and by the way.

Colloidal silver does work and once again you are proving what lobs out here say about conservatives. Stuck in a dark age. Won’t listen

I think it’s funny as you are trying to backtrack and insult me simultaneously

I must have struck a nerve.

The bottom line is my name

TRUTH. Over POWER

The EPA folks and pge the utility here use the SAME DAMN arguments that you are trying to push

Well guess what ?

Prove me wrong in any way. Using standard statements that regular people can understand.

Is mercury GAS really not bad?

Stare at a CFL. Tell me that doesn’t hurt your eyes?

Do you really want to prove how smart and tough you are or do you care about people ?

Methinks the first statement

Anyhow thanks for your thoughtful responses although I defer with them I will not choose to insult you or call you names

That is for the Loser of arguments. Not the winner.

And you know I am the winner here

Warn Freepers on this crap

Warn Freepers on the negativity and awful nature of mercury lamps

You cannot undo or obfuscate the TRUTH. I will always come back

( when I’m finally off work ! Woo. Hoo !)

Cheers.

[Graybeard58]

“Well, well, well, just caught you in another lie, Mr. Troll”.

“This site wasn’t in existence in 1995.”

“Now, since you say the proof is so easy, do it. Prove you were here in 1995.”

“I dare you.”

You won’t get an answer to that because the post where he said it (#67) has been removed. He never said it, go ahead prove that he did. Of course you have me and others on this thread as witnesses.

Once a liar, always a liar.

[Fresh Wind]

Trying to have any sort of discussion with this troll is pretty much the same as trying to have a conversation with a television set.

It just doesn’t work.

You can ask your TV any number of questions, present any number of facts to it, praise it, insult it, tease it, yell at it, nothing happens. The TV just doesn’t listen to you.

The TV will simply go on talking, spewing whatever blather it thinks you should hear until you hit the switch.

And the TV will think that it was the winner.