Unpublicized new health hazard....

Today’s post:

Thurs, 4-24-2008

Since you are reading this online there is an excellent chance you already have compact fluorescent light bulbs in your home or you visit people who do.

Unfortunately, it has been very little publicized that they are a significant health hazard to you if they break.

I was lucky that our local paper had an article that explained that this is indeed the case.

Breathing the air in that room for the next 15 minutes, even longer if no windows were opened, will cause you to breathe in enough mercury vapor to harm your health.
Mercury is a neurotoxin. And, Dr Mark Harmon had in his health information email a few months ago how he was able to reverse a seeming case of Alzheimer’s disease by discovering his patient had high mercury levels in his blood & then helping him remove it gradually.

Here’s the article that I posted yesterday on

www.RenewableEnergyArrives.blogspot.com :

The good news about compact fluorescents is very simple.

1. They do use only about 25% of the electricity of incandescent light bulbs.

2. The cost is coming down. Our first few were a bit over $25 each. Now GE makes them for less than $10. And, they are widely available for less & even given away free on occasion.

3. More people are using them, so we are beginning to use less electricity for lighting.

The bad news, however, is sobering.

1. Based on the recycling figures for cell phones, about 15 to 20 %, it’s likely that at least 80 to 85% of broken or burned out CFL’s are simply thrown in the regular trash every day.

Since they contain a good bit of mercury, this is poisoning our planet & likely some of our future food supply.

It has become illegal to throw them in the trash; but few people likely know of the law or what to do with them instead.

I have read that WalMart & Ace Hardware stores will help you properly dispose of burned out CFL bulbs.

2. Despite it not being at all publicized nor do I remember seeing it on the packaging for the CFL bulbs I’ve purchased,

breaking a CFL light bulb is actually a health emergency.

If you break one, here’s what you need to do.:

a) Open every nearby door or window you can & have every person, including you, leave the room for at least 15 minutes.

b) If you have an air conditioner or air filter running shut it off immediately so you don’t contaminate your future air they process.

c) Young children, babies, & pregnant women should not be in the room until at least 15 minutes after someone else cleans up the pieces.

d) wear rubber gloves & a dust mask if you them when cleaning up the mess. At least use dry or damp toilet paper to pick up the pieces so you don’t touch them directly.

e) After bagging up the larger pieces use damp toilet paper or paper towels to blot up the tiny pieces. You can also use index cards very carefully for the in between sizes.

f) Seal the bag as well as you can. Then see to it goes to a hazardous waste facility.

(If smaller pieces fall on a rug, it would be ideal to remove it also & replace it totally.)

Ouch !!

As I see it, CFL’s will likely be made illegal to make, sell or use as soon as LED lights are economically viable.

We do need to use CFL bulbs now for their energy reduction. But we also need to know they are not very safe & what to do about that.

Since LED lights do NOT have these hazards & are also even more energy-efficient, they are clearly the likely desirable next step in lighting.

But it will take a LOT of development to get good replacement LED bulbs that are even down to twice or three times as expensive as CFL bulbs AND some kind of financing mechanism for that to happen.

The good news is that I think both these things will happen within 20 years though 5 would be a lot better.

Meanwhile, be extremely careful of any CFL bulbs in your home. Keep them away from lamps small children or pets might break. And, dispose of them both with great care & properly.