Fluorescent Bulbs 300 Times Health Risk Limit

[DustinG]

ANOTHER BRIGHT IDEA
[FONT=Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+2]1 broken bulb pushes contamination to 300 times EPA limits[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+1]Poisonous vapor so bad, researchers recommend families no longer use CFLs[/SIZE][/FONT]

[SIZE=-1]Posted: August 11, 2008
9:55 pm Eastern

[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]© 2009 WorldNetDaily [/SIZE]

Compact fluorescent light bulbs have long been known to contain poisonous liquid [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]mercury[/COLOR][/COLOR], but a study released earlier this year shows the level of mercury vapor released from broken bulbs skyrockets past accepted safety levels.

Following a story reported by WND last year about a Maine woman quoted $2,000 for cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb, or CFL, in her home, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection studied the dangers of broken CFLs and the adequacy of recommended cleanup procedures.
The results were stunning: Breaking a single compact fluorescent bulb on the floor can spike mercury vapor levels in a room – particularly at a child's height – to over 300 times the EPA's standard accepted safety level.
Furthermore, for days after a CFL has been broken, vacuuming or simply crawling across a carpeted floor where the bulb was broken can cause mercury vapor levels to shoot back upwards of 100 times the accepted level of safety.
Following the study, the Maine DEP made eight new recommendations for usage and cleanup of CFLs, including the recommendation to not even use the bulbs in carpeted rooms where children, infants or pregnant women live. The likelihood of breakage, near impossibility of cleanup and risk of prolonged exposure, the study concluded, are just too great.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website acknowledges that Brown University published a similar study last month confirming the Maine results: Breaking a fluorescent bulb sends mercury vapor levels to unsafe levels for the elderly, pregnant and young – and those levels remain elevated for days.
The NIEHS website states, "Today’s CFLs underscore mercury's volatile vapor form, which is still a significant health concern – ventilation reduces but does not eliminate this toxicant. Mercury vapor inhalation can cause significant neural damage in developing fetuses and children."
(Story continues below)




According to a Mercury Policy Project overview paper, unpolluted air contains one to two nanograms, or billionths of a gram, of mercury vapor per cubic meter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established a level of 300 ng/m3 as the safety threshold for prolonged exposure to the poisonous gas.
Some states, though not the federal government, have also established a safety threshold for a one-time, acute exposure to mercury vapor. California, for example, has established that any level of exposure over 1,800 ng/m3 has potentially harmful health effects.
The Maine study, however, discovered that upon breakage of a CFL, mercury vapors can rise "with short excursions over 25,000 ng/m3, sometimes over 50,000 ng/m3, and possibly over 100,000 ng/m3 from the breakage of a single compact fluorescent lamp."
In other words, the study found breaking a single bulb can send mercury vapor levels in a room to over 50 times the level that California considers dangerous and to over 300 times what the EPA has established as a safe level for prolonged exposure.
Researchers in the study broke 45 bulbs in a variety of [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]flooring[/COLOR][/COLOR] surfaces and then studied lingering gas levels after a variety of cleanup techniques. The results contradicted a number of commonly held thoughts on CFLs, for example:

• Though proponents of CFLs often argue a single bulb only contains 5 mg of mercury, the study found it was an average. The bulbs actually range from 0.9 to 18 mg of mercury.

• Though the EPA's Energy Star program recommends placing a broken bulb "in a glass jar with a metal lid or in a sealed plastic bag," the study discovered mercury vapor leaches right through plastic bags. "Of the 12 different types of containers tested during the 23 different tests, the plastic bag was found to be the worst choice for containing mercury emissions," researchers stated. "Based upon this study, the DEP now suggests that a glass container with metal screw lid with a gum [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]seal[/COLOR][/COLOR] be used to contain debris."

• Though the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]Energy [COLOR=blue !important]Star [/COLOR][COLOR=blue !important]guidelines[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] suggest ventilating a room for 15 minutes before attempting cleanup, the study found that in every case – even in well-ventilated rooms – it took over an hour to drop mercury vapor levels below the EPA safety standard.

• And for cleanup on [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]carpets[/COLOR][/COLOR], the Energy Star guidelines suggest vacuuming and disposing of the dust bag. The Maine study, however, discovered that vacuuming served to simply stir the vapor into the air and "irreversibly contaminate the vacuum". The researchers, acknowledging it was inconvenient, recommended only one course of action for broken bulbs on carpet: remove the carpet.​

The Maine study also discovered, however, that carpets aren't the only problem with broken bulbs.
"All three flooring surfaces in this study (pre-finished hardwood, short nap carpet, and shag carpet) were able to be cleaned up with pre-study cleanup guidance so that they looked clean. However, mercury vapors emanating from all three surface types were detected, especially when agitated, for weeks after the cleanup of a break. … Flooring surfaces, once visibly clean, can emit mercury immediately at the source that can be greater than 50,000 ng/m3."
"Flooring surfaces that still contain mercury sources emit more mercury when agitated than when not agitated. This mercury source in the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]carpeting[/COLOR][/COLOR] has particular significance for children rolling around on a floor, babies crawling, or non mobile infants placed on the floor."
As WND has reported, several countries, including the U.S., have signed laws that will eventually phase out typical incandescent light bulbs and dictate their replacement with CFLs.
Even the U.S. EPA, however, has recognized that recent studies show CFLs aren't safe for all circumstances.
The Maine study may prove the most condemning of the use of fluorescent bulbs yet.
Part of the study detailed the potential hazards posed by mercury vapor:
"There are a number of studies documenting neurotoxicity as a consequence of inhalation of elemental mercury in adults. … Studies documented changes in EEG, deficits in peripheral nerve function, autonomic effects, psychological and sleep changes, and deficits in fine motor performance, visuomotor coordination, visual reaction time, visual scanning, memory, concentration, and executive function."
In children, and especially unborn children, the results can be far worse:
"It is well established that the developing organism may be much more sensitive than the adult to neurotoxic agents. For example, methylmercury exposure can produce devastating effects in the fetus, including cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, and even death, while producing no or minimal effects in the mother."
Children are also more susceptible to mercury vapor exposure from broken CFLs:
"Infants and toddlers also have a much higher rate of respiration than adults. Therefore they have a higher exposure to similar concentrations. They also are lower to the floor and therefore closer to the source of the exposure and presumably more apt to obtain a concentrated dose of mercury."
The study, however, didn't leave out the elderly:
"Elderly and unhealthy individuals may already be at comprised health and be more susceptible to mercury effects than a healthy individual. For example, mercury does kidney damage which could exacerbate an already existing kidney disease."
Unlike many poisons that can be flushed out of the body, mercury bioaccumulates, which means the various tissues store the toxin in increasing amounts, a particular concern as the use of CFLs increases.
The Mercury Policy Project summary paper quotes an estimate that the U.S. currently releases two tons of mercury vapor into the [COLOR=blue !important][COLOR=blue !important]environment[/COLOR][/COLOR] each year from broken fluorescent bulbs alone. Two tons contrasts startlingly with the level the EPA has established as dangerous to human health: a mere 300 billionths of a gram.


1 broken bulb pushes contamination to 300 times EPA limits

 

[DustinG]

By 2012 the incandescent light bulb will become illegal to purchase, which leaves the cfl the only light bulb choice. The "Green" nuts do not care about your health nor your children's health for that matter, but rather what your carbon footprint is...

 

[Bubbajms]

Well, if you bust a normal bulb, pick up the tungsten element and eat it, it's going to make you sick too.. (just to be fair)

Since swapping to CFL bulbs my electric bill has gone down. I just don't drop 'em!

 

[tyler34]

whether or not my electric bill goes down or I make hippies happy I bought CFL's because I don't like incandescent lights, the color it puts out is too dark and warm for my liking, and I don't want to retrofit all my lights for fluorescent tubes.

 

[DustinG]

I don't know if you have kids or not, but I can remember being a kid and breaking numerous light bulbs. I wouldn't have eaten any part of it, but I would gotten the mercury poisoning from the CFL's. If you have children I recommend you do not put them to the risk of inhaling mercury vapors.

 

[Bubbajms]

There's health risks, sure. But there's far greater risks letting teens drive, right?? CFL bulbs are pretty low on my list o'worries..

 

[IndyBeerman]

Since swapping to CFL bulbs my electric bill has gone down. I just don't drop 'em!

I switched out about 3/4's of my most used lights about 6 years ago in my old house, initial cost was a little steep, but after checking out the previous years bills I was 25% cheaper on electric.

When I moved into our current house, we changed every light with the exception being 2 out side lights (500 watt flood for back yard and 1000 watt flagpole light) It just makes sense cost savings. Put 5 - 100 watt equivalents at 115 watts used vs. 500 watts used with incandescent's.

That's a huge cost savings when you team that up with a hybrid HVAC system rated at 16.5 seer cooling and 9.8 heating only having to us gas when it gets to cold.

It's all about the dollars saved. Just don't break'm and properly recycle them.

 

[Instant=.40cal=Karma]

By 2012 the incandescent light bulb will become illegal to purchase, which leaves the cfl the only light bulb choice. The "Green" nuts do not care about your health nor your children's health for that matter, but rather what your carbon footprint is...

CFL the only bulb choice no... TheLEDLight.com is everything LED. Find loose LEDs, LED Flexible Ribbon, LED Modules, LED light bars,LED controls, LED fixtures, LED light bulbs, LED strips, UV LED flashlights .

These "green nuts" IMO have good intentions although some take it more to the extreme than others.

 

[Bubbajms]

I've got LED bulbs too.. no really nice ones, though. Mine are pretty dim and blue, but they work really well in some fixtures!

 

[rafterman191]

CFL's I have used are very inconsistent. Some last mos. some weeks, never years. Some I have used fall apart if you handle them to much. Until the cost and safety concern (OK mostly cost) goes down, I will not try anymore.

 

[hornadylnl]

Do your cfl bulbs have to warm up before they put out much light? I put one in my bathroom and it stays really dim for a minute or two before it gets very bright.

 

[IndyBeerman]

Do your cfl bulbs have to warm up before they put out much light? I put one in my bathroom and it stays really dim for a minute or two before it gets very bright.

Most cfl's do tend to need a little warm up time, most of mine are up to full power in about 30 seconds. Faster output equals a higher cost.

CFL's are not the greatest bulb for a 15 second on and off due to this, and after rethinking there is one incandescent bulb left in the house, walk-in closet in our master bedroom just because of that.

 

[Bubbajms]

I've got LEDs in the closet - Instant light, baby!!

 

[rhino]

So . . . that party I scheduled where we sword fight in the basement with old fluorescent tubes might be a bad idea after all?

 

[agentl074]

Aren't black light bulbs filled with mercury too? I think its interesting because I just wrote a paper about the health effects of mercury exposure

 

[StarKing]

Well, if you bust a normal bulb, pick up the tungsten element and eat it, it's going to make you sick too.. (just to be fair)

Since swapping to CFL bulbs my electric bill has gone down. I just don't drop 'em!

Not meaning to be argumentative, but just to be accurate, rather than fair (or PC): from tungsten MSDS:

"Effect of Overexposure: Dust, mist and fumes generated during physical or metallurgical treatment may cause mild irritation of the nose and throat. With the exception of two Russian studies that found early signs of pulmonary fibrosis in some workers exposed to tungsten trioxide, tungsten metal and tungsten carbide, most studies have shown tungsten to be toxicologically inert. Skin and eye contact may cause irritation due to abrasive action of the dust. Current scientific evidence indicates no adverse effects are likely from accidental ingestion of small amounts of tungsten."

 

[Indy317]

The point is, light bulbs need to be treated like a dangerous product. This means don't drop them. It may mean getting a large square piece of throw away carpet to lay down around the fixture. Instead of putting the bulb in lamps while they are standing on tall tables, unplug the lamp, put it closer to the soft carpet, and lay it almost flat to install the bulb. I see it no different than other household chemicals used to kill insects or yard weeds. They are all toxins and extra care should be used. So basically I would just start looking a light bulbs as toxins and act accordingly. This may mean going out and buying a few canning jars or what not, asking for large piece carpet samples to lay down when changing bulbs in ceiling lights, and just going that extra effort to focus on the task at hand when changing light bulbs.

 

[Bubbajms]

Starking - well, sure, that's the MSDS on Tungsten. But that fillament looks pretty sharp and nasty! Stainless steel probably wouldn't poison you if you ate it, but a fishhook of the same material would..

Indy317 - good point. Ya know, though, I've seen people busting floursecent tubes for years, and never heard about the mercury aspect of this until CFL bulbs came around. From what I'm reading, the amount of mercury in a CFL and a 4' Straight Lamp are about equal - and people have been busting Straight Lamps out in the back lot of stores and around dumpsters for years. Major motion pictures show these bulbs being used as "Swords", though the strikes don't last long.. keep your nasty stuff put up and be careful, and everything will be okay..

 

[Scout]

By 2012 the incandescent light bulb will become illegal to purchase, which leaves the cfl the only light bulb choice. The "Green" nuts do not care about your health nor your children's health for that matter, but rather what your carbon footprint is...

Not yet, but in CA legislators are pushing for it.
FOXNews.com - California Lawmaker Wants to Ban Common Light Bulb - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum

Assemblyman Lloyd Levine says compact fluorescent light bulbs, which often have a spiral shape and are being promoted by Wal-Mart, are so efficient that consumers should be forced to use them. The compact bulbs use a quarter the energy of a conventional light.

"consumers should be forced to use them"

Another case of the .gov knowing what's best for everyone.


They may cost less to operate, but what about the cost to produce and dispose of them? Surely the plastic body and electronic components can't be as "green" as a metal base and some glass?

 

[Scout]

CFL's I have used are very inconsistent. Some last mos. some weeks,

I'll second this. I have some that come on right away, and some that flicker for a second before coming on. Some have lasted awhile, and some burn out prematurely. I *think* that was from being on a dimmer switch. I do have a few that date back to '95 at least, but they are probably equal to a 25 watt bulb, so they were taken out.