As an addendum to the post of several days ago-April 19th-regarding CFL’s and the danger of having one break in your home and then wonder how to clean it up, I have some thoughts from the Mother Earth Magazine. We have been readers of the journal for a long time. For those of you who have picked up the latest issue of Mother Earth Magazine, you may have read the article on suggestions as to how to save energy and one of the recommendations is switching to the use of CFL’s entitled Bright Ideas for Home Lighting by Megan Phelps.
The subtitle was “Better Lights are the No. 1 way to save money and energy.” There was one section that was entitled Concerns for Mercury. She noted that many are hesitant to use CFL’s since there is a concern of mercury pollution.
There was the statement expressed about the mercury in CFL’s. It was said that ”even if it breaks…most experts say not to worry about the health effects of exposure to the mercury in a compact fluorescent…one CFL contains 4 milligrams of mercury, just a fraction of 500 milligrams found in an old mercury thermometers” This last statement was from the EPA. Interestingly, this was not what was told to Mrs. Bridges in Maine as was reported in the article of which I posted on April 19-See sidebar for April’s issues.
Ms. Phelps wrote the following a few paragraphs later quoting Alex Wilson, executive editor of Environmental Building News and author of Your Green Home: “The take-home message is that when fluorescent have ceased to work properly, they shouldn’t just be thrown in the trash; you should dispose of them through your local solid waste agency.”
“The point is to keep fluorescents out of landfills where there’s always a chance that some mercury could eventually leak out. As more and more people start using CFL’s, the collective mercury could become more of a concern…’But the pros outweigh the cons,’ “says Wendy Reed of the U.S. Governments Energy Star Program.
CFL’s are known to be much more energy efficient than incandescent bulbs. They are said to last much, much longer: 10,000 hours. At $2 to $3 a piece they could save substantially over a period of years compared to the use of incandescent bulbs. However, not all cities are set up for their disposal or have convenient drop off-points where the bulbs/lamps can be safely discarded.
Wanting to protect the environment, our own 37 year old daughter with 2 small children and a new baby was about to purchase CFL’s for her home. In the past, she had a lamp get knocked over accidentally-she has a beautiful Great Dane. After reading the article from my other post, she is seriously reconsidering using CFL’s at all: Better safe than sorry. She was, frankly, frustrated that this subject wasn’t being discussed. There’s no dialogue going on about the potential negative aspect of the CFL’s. Being a mother with small children, she expressed that it’s something very important of which to be at least aware of.
So the big question is this: What should we do with broken or non-working CFL’s? Since mercury is a neuro-toxin, and in light of the article I already posted about, how do we clean up broken CFL’s in our homes, schools, and workplace around the country? It might be well to check with your own city sanitation department or solid waste agancy, do your own research, and have the information to make an informed decision for your own particular personal needs and household. You can, also, go to www.earth911.org, call 1-800-CLEANUP for more information, or log on to www.energystar.org for their fact sheet.
Because of the high recommendations in magazine/newspaper articles, the web, and on TV for CFL usage, I will continue to do research on this and will let you know of any future findings. Write me should you have any comments or other information on this subject – donnasinfo@gmail.com . I’d love to hear from you.
Eventually the day will come when LED’s will be available at affordable prices and at a brilliancy that will be conducive for everyday lighting. Until then, if you do use the CFL’s, PLEASE, do be careful .
Till next time…Live Green.
Peace, Donna
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