Skip to main content. Homepage Header Search box Search. The Facts about CFLs and Mercury Because CFLs use less electricity than traditional light bulbs, they reduce demand for electricity; that reduction means less greenhouse gas emissions including less mercury from power plants. CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury — an average of 4 milligrams in each bulb. No mercury is released when the bulbs are intact or in use. While you'd be hard-pressed to find a piece of seafood that doesn't contain some amount of methylmercury, the larger fish contain the most [source: PBS ].
And if we look at why we've got mercury in our fish in the first place, it becomes clear why large fish are have more of it than smaller ones. Coal-fired power plants emit mercury into the air as part of the electricity -producing process. These plants account for 40 percent of all the mercury released into our environment [source: GE ]. From there, it goes something like the acid-rain dilemma.
Methylmercury is ideal for absorption into tiny organisms. When smaller fish eat those organisms, they ingest that methylmercury. And then the mercury moves up the food chain. The bigger the fish, the more methylmercury-containing organisms they eat, until something like a swordfish is sporting Just one 4-ounce serving of tilefish per week is nearing the EPA's top dose for a pound person.
So we know we need to be careful about how much fish we eat. Children and pregnant women need to be particularly vigilant. The question is, are we actually bringing even more mercury into our homes in our effort to be a "greener" society? Symptoms of too much mercury in your body include tremors, nervousness, disruption of coordination and dementia [source: Purdue ]. If you experience these symptoms and you believe you've been exposed to mercury, call your doctor.
There are medical ways to purge your body of the toxin. Mercury in CFLs, unlike mercury in fish, is there on purpose. It uses less energy, which means coal-fired power plants can produce less power and therefore emit less mercury into the air and into our fish supply.
Ironically, though, the bulbs are themselves a source of the poison. But how much exposure are we talking about here? On average, a compact fluorescent bulb has somewhere between 2. That probably sounds like a lot, considering it's about times the maximum ingestion amount recommended by the U.
But here's the thing: By running a CFL, you're not ingesting any mercury at all. The only time you even have a chance of inhaling the mercury vapor in a CFL is if it breaks, and even then, your risk is very limited.
If you clean it up thoroughly and quickly with a broom, not a vacuum, since vacuums can expel it into the air , seal all the debris in a plastic bag, and dispose of it at an approved site see sidebar , there's barely any risk at all of inhaling a damaging dose of mercury. We actually eat the mercury in the fish. The white powder coating inside the glass tubing of a CFL contains a fluorescent coating. When electricity enters a CFL, mercury and argon fumes inside the bulb produce invisible ultraviolet UV light.
This UV light reacts with the fluorescent coating to produce the white, visible light you see when you turn on a CFL. As there is a slight delay in the transfer of UV energy, the light produced by the CFL start off dim and becomes brighter with time.
Compact fluorescent bulbs contain small quantities of mercury. As a CFL is used, up to 60 per cent of the mercury inside the bulb can be bound to the fluorescent coating on the glass. Overall the health risks are very low due to the small amount of mercury present.
Most CHLs contain fewer than 5 mg of mercury. As a comparison, this amount is about the same as the amount of ink found on the tip of a ballpoint pen.
Only very small amounts of mercury are found as fumes in CFLs and there is very little risk to healthy humans of any age. When a CFL is broken, the mercury fumes are released and disperse rapidly. This further reduces the likelihood of any significant exposure to mercury.
Studies have shown that if a CFL breaks the mercury levels dissipate quickly when the room is ventilated.
By the time the room is cleared and clean-up materials are gathered, the small amount of mercury in the fumes will have diluted enough that it will no longer pose a health risk.
Selected metropolitan businesses and local councils have hazardous goods recycling collection points external sites. Some local government councils have installed special collection centres to dispose of CFLs. These specialised collection stations allow for the easy disposal of:. Contact your local government authority external site to confirm if a program is in place in your community.
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