Many consumers in the dark about dangers of CFL bulbs

Seminole County Environmental News Examiner ^ | Jan 4, 2012 | Kirk Myers

[Rocky]

The is the first in a multi-part series of articles exposing the lies and misinformation behind legislation mandating the replacement of incandescent light bulbs with potentially unsafe compact florescent light (CFL) bulbs.

-------

According to provisions of legislation passed by congress in 2007, the 100-watt incandescent bulb was to be off the shelves this January, followed by a phase-out of the 75-watt version in January 2013 and the 60- and 40-watt versions in January 2014. But last month congress granted consumers a reprieve by including in its spending bill a measure delaying enforcement of the ban until the end of the 2012.

----------------------

According to Wattsworks.com, “Breaking a single CFL bulb in a room can result in mercury vapor levels 300 times in excess of what the EPA has established as safe for prolonged exposure. Serious health effects are associated with mercury exposure. Unborn and young children, elderly and those with weakened health are particularly vulnerable.”

[EVO X]

If you want to waste money, energy, and time, go ahead and continue to be stupid and use incandescent light bulbs. You are allowed to be ignorant in this country.

If you switch incandescents off when moving from room to room like I do, it might take a couple of years for me to break even by switching to the CFL bulb. I have a mixture of the regular bulbs and CFL's. I prefer to use the regular bulbs for certain applications. Take for instance a closet light bulb. You'll never recover the cost of replacing a closet bulb with a CFL bulb if your only in the closet for a few minutes a day..

[Venturer]

So what are we supposed to do with these bulbs when they stop working?

Right now I just throw the incandescent bulbs in the trash.

I don’t always have a lot of room in my trash can, so I sometimes put my foot in it and mash it down so I can get more in. This will probably crush the bulb if I throw it in there with the trash.

Am I supposed to drive this bulb to a special haz mat dump to get rid of it?Has one been established in every part of our country? Will I be fined if I am caught throwing one in my trash can?

More unintended consequences.

[Caipirabob]

I’m surprised the sanitation union isn’t more concerned for their union workers who pickup this trash.

When they get involved, expect a "special disposal fee" to appear. Actually, not a bad idea and it only makes sense, given the risks of expose.

However next will be enforcement, which will involve sifting through your trash for violations. Have a copy of the Rush Limbaugh newsletter in your trash? We think we found a CFL infraction - $500 fine!!!

The Federal garbage inspector will then be compelled to report the homeowner to the DHS for environmental terrorism.

No worries, you'll get out in time to meet your grandchildren...

Tongue in cheek, and yet it will probably be implemented within the first year of Obama's 2nd term.

: /

[Caipirabob]

"Sir, you are under arrest for a class A felony disposal of a CFL lightbulb..."

"You shot my wife, my dog..."

"...anything you have to say will be held against you in the EPA military tribunal about to convene. Do you have any surviving next of kin?"

[immadashell]

“Breaking a single CFL bulb in a room can result in mercury vapor levels 300 times in excess of what the EPA has established as safe for prolonged exposure.

The last nine words of the above quote are instructional. First, the EPA (containing vast amounts of political quackery) is involved, and, Second, "prolonged exposure" implies either the "gas" hangs around for a really, really long time or you are constantly breaking, on a daily basis, the very expensive and flimsy bulbs (where's the cost savings here?). I would suggest that even a brief exposure to the EPA is infinitely more dangerous.

[The Great RJ]

Just read the EPA's own recommendations for cleaning up a broken CFL Link While the EPA tries to pooh-pooh the danger saying the mercury content in a single CFL is 1/100th that of a mercury thermometer, the EPA regards mercury vapor as dangerous in even the most minute quantities. With CFLs there is no simple sweeping up the broken pieces and dumping them into the trash and this elaborate clean-up procedure is needed because of the obvious health and environmental hazard.

[bigbob]

The potential mercury risk is completely overblown BS.

If a bulb breaks, only 0.67 milligrams of mercury (one-third of 40 percent of the 5 milligrams in a typical CFL) might become airborne in the room during the first eight hours, and only a fraction of that would be breathed in. In short, the exposure from breaking a compact fluorescent bulb is in about the same range as the exposure from eating a can or two of tuna fish.

This isn’t politics, it’s science.

[exDemMom]

If you want to waste money, energy, and time, go ahead and continue to be stupid and use incandescent light bulbs. You are allowed to be ignorant in this country.

If you want to spend your time bathed in depression-inducing unnatural and unfriendly light bulbs that costs a fortune, go ahead. I'll stick with the much friendlier light spectra emitted by incandescent bulbs, which don't cause nearly the same level of depression.

[Paine in the Neck]

Mail your broken or burnt CFLs to your Congressman.

[paintriot]

I rent a house with outdated wiring and for example can’t run the dryer while the AC is on, can’t run the microwave with the AC or dryer on, can’t run the vacuum with any of the aforementioned appliances running. So CFL bulbs work great for my needs. Lower energy consumption=less strain on the wiring.
The added bonus is not having to replace them as often.
Sucks about the mercury though.

[2CAVTrooper]

The dangers of CFL’s are hardly exaggerated.

Besides the known mercury content of said bulbs, there are documented cases of them catching fire.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml11/11001.html

http://www.eveningtribune.com/newsnow/x1882979636/Compact-fluorescent-light-bulb-to-blame-for-Hornell-fire

[aldabra]

I don’t like government mandates but that’s another issue. I’m wondering why we don’t hear the same screaming about the florescent tubes that have been in use for decades.

Back in the stone age of my youth I was a garbage man for a while. We used to dump whole dumpsters full of the long tubes in the back of the garbage truck twice a week on days when we picked up at the local power company.

To start with those tubes were not made in China, the land of quality fade where plastic is added to baby formula and pet food ingredients, high levels of mercury and chromium are added to children's toys and dishware, and shaving quality by substituting cheaper ingredients, regardless of the consequence is a national pastime.

[aldabra]

The dangers of CFL’s are hardly exaggerated.

Besides the known mercury content of said bulbs, there are documented cases of them catching fire.

Plus there's the problem of flicker from CFL's which can cause seizures, and migraines. Incandescents are used in some situations for their warmth, e.g. warming chicken coops. CFL's do not work well in the cold, and cost more to run in situations where they are only used for a short period of timetime.

Here's a novel idea, why not let us choose which type of light bulb we deem appropriate?

[DrDavid]

Here is a dramatized version of the Green Police.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxTNZUhesZk

[cripplecreek]

The lights still had mercury in them regardless of whether they were made in China. Same with the street lights that are still pretty common where they haven’t switched to the orange sodium vapor lights.

[ßuddaßudd]

I cant beleive the Gov would allow something so dangerous to be sold to the public . . .
Its trash people’s problem, not mine.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Will the EPA’s “Standard Operating Procedure for Sampling of Vapor Phase Mercury” (below - ref http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/lmmb/methods/lmsamsvp.pdf) be required to certify your room is safe for re-entry?

Volume 1, Chapter 1. SOP for Sampling of Vapor Phase Mercury
Appendix A. Facilities, Equipment and Reagents

1. Preparation of Field Supplies
- Class 100 Clean Room, Work Stations
- Clean Room Gloves
- Particle-free Wipes
- Clean Room Cap, Gown and Boots
- Milli-Q Water (18.2MÙ/cm)
- Exhaust Hood
- Acetone
- Alconox
- Polyethylene Tubs
- EM Science Tracepur and Suprapur Hydrochloric Acid
- Polytherm Water Bath (Science/Electronics)
- Baker Instra-Analyzed or EM Science Suprapur Nitric Acid
- New Polyethylene Bags
- 20 L Polyethylene Carboys

2. Sample Collection
- Mass Flow Controlled Vacuum Pump (URG, Model 3000-02M)
- Calibrated 300 cc/min. Rotameter (Matheson)
- HDPE Tubing with quick connects
- Black Latex Tubing
- Mercury Sampling Box (UMAQL, See Appendix B)
- Acid-Cleaned 47 mm Teflon Filter Holders (Savillex, PFA Labware)
- 47 mm Preheated Glass Fiber Filters (Gelman Sciences A/E)
- Acid-Cleaned Teflon Jars (Savillex, PFA Labware)
- Teflon-Coated Forceps
- ‘Blanked’ Gold-Bead Traps (UMAQL)
- Teflon Endplugs
- Trap Heater & Variable Transformer
- Acid-Cleaned Teflon Tubing
- Particle-Free Gloves
- Teflon Tape
- Sample Labels
- Field Operator Log Book
- Shipping Boxes

3. Sample Analysis
- Cold Vapor Atomic Florescence Detector (Brooks Rand, LTD.)
- Line Tamer/Conditioner (Shape Magnetronics Model PCLT 150)
- Integrator (Hewlett-Packard Model 3390A)
- Helium, Ultra High Purity Grade (99.999%)
- Mass Flow Controller (Tylan)
- Nichrome Coils (UMAQL)
- Electric Leads
- Variable Transformers (Staco Energy Products Co. Type 3PN1010)
- Cooling Fans
- Gold-Coated Glass Bead Traps (UMAQL)
- Gas Tight Syringe (Hamilton series 1800)
- Injection Port (UMAQL)
- Constant Temperature Circulating Water Bath (Fisher Model 901)
- Instrument Grade Metallic Mercury (Triple Distilled)
- Mercury Flask (UMAQL)
- Certified Immersion Thermometer (Kessler Instruments, Inc. 15041A)

[cpdiii]

Almost all my lights are CFLs in my home. I do this by choice not mandate. However, I sure as hell do not want the choice to use incandescent bulbs to be taken away from me or anyone else.

[sportutegrl]

I know it’s BS. You know it’s BS. But the enviroweenies who shoved CFLs down our throat will swallow it hook, line and sinker.

[aldabra]

The lights still had mercury in them regardless of whether they were made in China. Same with the street lights that are still pretty common where they haven’t switched to the orange sodium vapor lights.

I'm no fan of the EPA which I'm certain exaggerates the risk. However I neglected to specify some additional points.

Because of no/poor quality control no one knows how much mercury vapor is in CLF's and they may well be much more fragile than the old tubes. In my experience as China corners the market on any product, quality greatly deteriorates.

Exposure to broken tubes you handled in the past, and outdoor street lights lights would have disipated fairly rapidly. The vapor in our hermetically sealed, green energy efficient homes is a different matter.