Dark cloud hangs over green bulbs

[DainBramaged]

Energy-efficient coils booming, but disposal of mercury poses problems

Compact fluorescent light bulbs, long touted by environmentalists as a more efficient and longer-lasting alternative to the incandescent bulbs that have lighted homes for more than a century, are running into resistance from waste industry officials and some environmental scientists, who warn that the bulbs’ poisonous innards pose a bigger threat to health and the environment than previously thought.

Fluorescents — the squiggly, coiled bulbs that generate light by heating gases in a glass tube — are generally considered to use more than 50 percent less energy and to last several times longer than incandescent bulbs.

When fluorescent bulbs first hit store shelves several years ago, consumers complained about the loud noise they made, their harsh light, their bluish color, their clunky shape and the long time it took for them to warm up.

Since then, the bulbs — known as CFLs — have been revamped, and strict government guidelines have alleviated most of those problems. But while the bulbs are extremely energy-efficient, one problem hasn’t gone away: All CFLs contain mercury, a neurotoxin that can cause kidney and brain damage.

The amount is tiny — about 5 milligrams, or barely enough to cover the tip of a pen — but that is enough to contaminate 6,000 gallons of water beyond safe drinking levels, Stanford University environmental safety researchers found. Even the latest lamps promoted as “low-mercury” can contaminate more than 1,000 gallons of water beyond safe levels.

There is no disputing that overall, fluorescent bulbs save energy and reduce pollution in general. An average incandescent bulb lasts about 800 to 1,500 hours; a spiral fluorescent bulb can last as long as 10,000 hours. In just more than a year — since the beginning of 2007 — 9 million fluorescent bulbs have been purchased in California, preventing the release of 1.5 billion pounds of carbon dioxide compared with traditional bulbs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.


Consumers bought more than 300 million CFLs last year, according to industry figures, but they may be simply trading one problem (low energy-efficiency) for another (hazardous materials by the millions of pounds going right into the earth).


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23694819/


I have them in every lamp and fixture in my house. I am shocked that this is only becoming a problem now. The benefits MUST out weigh the negatives.

[tularetom]

1. Can't find the link now but when I first saw this story

it was attributed to some "scientist" with the American Enterprise Institute. So I ignored it. You should probably do the same.

[Snarkoleptic]

9. According to the EPA, each CFL contains about 5mg of mercury...enough to pollute 6000 gal of water.

Here's the EPA page that discusses proper disposal and recycling options.
http://www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling/
I've also read the Ikea stores are approved drop-off sites for recycling CFL and FL bulbs.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Here is the solution. RECYCLE THEM!

Chesus people this is not rocket science. We have been doing this for years were I work.

[ellaydubya]

3. Environmentally Safely

That's how we dispose of them. We don't use as many of them as we did with the old bulbs- but just as with many other items we now use-dispose of them the safest way to the environment as possible.

And, yes, it may take more effort to dispose of them: the benefits of using them, I still believe, outweigh the disadvantages.

[DainBramaged]

5. I have yet to need to dispose of any in over 3 years

And we have a giant complex for recycling where I live and other than a special bin for alkaline and lithium batteries, I have never seen a fluorescent bulb recycling bin.

[Nihil]

13. Not being funny but try asking at the recycling centre.

I had to do this when I wanted to get rid of a 4' tube and found
that they used a large plastic dustbin tucked away from the main
area. It didn't need to be that big as it was frequently emptied
and it turned out that they didn't want to risk people being too
heavy-handed when putting the bulbs/tubes in (and breaking them).

Maybe they're doing the same at your place?

:shrug:

[Speck Tater]

4. More and more, it's looking like the only real solution to all these problems

is to return to the neolithic hunter-gatherer stage of existence. We should all become nomads, following the herds and living in yurts. I just don't see any other solution.

[DainBramaged]

6. I refuse to eat bark

:rofl:

[Speck Tater]

8. Well, OK. Maybe it swould be enough

to replace electric lights with tallow lamps and candles.

[physioex]

10. Not necessarily....

These bulbs have a much longer life span. I used one for 12hrs a day for 5 years at it is still going. Anyways these bulbs are better than incadesants. Like the other posters said, they are recycleable, and buring coal also emits mercurcy in our air.

[Warpy]

7. I have some CFLs that have been in use for 11 years

At that rate, they do have an advantage.

Waste management officials are simply going to have to come up with a disposal strategy, possibly picking up the dead ones once a year along with all the paint cans and other noxious waste.

[gear_head]

11. are CFLs any worse than normal (long-tube) flourescents? nt.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. STOP WITH THE MERCURY BULLSHIT!!! Sorry about the...

yelling, but EVERY fluorescent light out there has mecury in it.

The 4' tubes in your kitchen.

The 8' tubes in offices and Wall-Marts.

The U-line tubes in doctors' waiting rooms.

And, yes, the little cfls in your lamps at home.

Every one of the billions of them made since the fluorescent was invented almost 80 years ago. Except some had beryllium in them, which was even more toxic.

And, HID, mercury-vapor, high pressure sodium, and other commercial lighting has mercury, too.

So, what's the problem? We've been dumping the big tubes into old landfills for years-- now we have little ones and recycling and proper burial for them. Sounds to me like things are getting better.

If you really , really, want to have fun, calculate the mercury emitted by a coal powerplant to power 100w incandescent bulbs vs 23 watt cfls and compare what actually goes into the environment.

[DainBramaged]

15. A lot?? Over a much shorter time frame??

:shrug:

[skids]

14. Yes, the benefits outweigh -- generating electricity emits mercury

Less mercury goes into the environment from using a CFL than a normal bulb.

But still, dispose of them correctly.

And in a year or two you'll be able to start replacing the burned out ones with LED bulbs.

Just try not to break them.

[madokie]

16. Can't wait for the led bulbs to arrive

we have something like 26 cfl's in our home now at last count and they dropped our electric bill by about a fourth.

[DainBramaged]

17. I have LED Flashlights, and the batteries last forever

Led's will change the way we look at saving electricity. I have some "tea lights" that Coleman sells for camping. They have one battery in them (disc type) and will burn for over 200 hours with the light of a 7 watt bulb. Amazing

[madokie]

18. yep me too and all my friends too as I purchased them and given them out

LED flashlights that is. I have a 52 led flashlight that will literally light up the whole house or the back yard almost like daylight. If there is anything in here or out there I will see it no doubt as the light is so well dispersed.

[kristopher]

19. Another point to ad is that even without a specific disposal program

The mercury from bulbs disposed of in a land fill is more likely to end up being absorbed by the surrounding garbage, which is usually isolated from contact with groundwater supplies. The mercury from coal plants, however, is deposited by the atmosphere and largely ends up in bodies of water where it is subject to being converted to methyl mercury and entering the food chain.

[Javaman]

20. Life in the stupid lane...

This is exactly what I find amusing about the florescent bulb, it is the fact that, everyone is buying them to be environmentally conscious, yet, these same people are all concerned that they can't just throw them away.

Kind of goes against the whole concept of being environmentally conscious.

:banghead: