West Glenmoore, PA – Beautiful. Green. Home.

This is something I never really thought about…what happens if you break a compact fluorescent light bulb? Well there is mercury in each bulb and with kids in our house that is a health concern. Of course, I’m not going to stop using CFL’s due to the mercury, they are far superior to regular light bulbs. Besides, the most common risk of mercury exposure to children comes from canned tuna because kids eat so much of it (except if you are living in my house…my kids don’t eat a lot of ‘new’ foods”.

So what should you do if you break a CFL bulb?

Have a game plan…over on Earth911.com and in a recent email I received, they give you a simple 5 step action plan for cleaning up a broken CFL bulb.

1) Open a window before cleaning up, and turn off any forced-air heating or air conditioning.

2) Instead of sweeping or vacuuming, which can spread the mercury around, scoop up the glass fragments and powder. Use sticky tape to pick up remaining glass fragments or powder. Wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or wet wipes.

3) Dispose of the broken bulb through your local household hazardous waste program or recycling program. If that service is unavailable in your area, place all clean-up materials in a trash container outside the building.

4) Wash your hands after cleaning up.

5) If vacuuming is needed afterwards, when all visible materials have been removed, vacuum the area and dispose of the vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag. For the next few times you vacuum, turn off any forced-air heating or air conditioning and open a window before doing so.

Recycling Old Light Bulbs

Wow, I actually never thought of this and will definitely be recycling burned out bulbs from now on.

Many companies offer the benefit of allowing you to mail back your old, burnt-out lamps free of charge. You may visit the manufacturers’ site for take-back programs or recycle your lamps using Earth911.

• NEMA estimates that lamp recycling, in 2003, recovered about 5,720 pounds of mercury.
• When lamps are recycled at the end of their usable lives, less than one-tenth (<.1) of one ton of mercury is released into the air.

With lamps such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), mercury content needs to be taken into consideration before disposal.

Mercury is an extremely hazardous waste and is a major health concern when it comes in contact with humans and animals. In humans, mercury can cause brain and kidney damage. While many companies hope to have non-mercury CFLs in the near future, right now, such lamps are not widely available.

Full post and credit from Earth911.com

Tags: CFL, Eco, hazards, Home