Disposing of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Posted March 27th, 2008 by acusimmDear Scienceman,
Do you have an idea what we are supposed to do about these wonderful CFL bulbs that we all have bought - that are curly? The bulbs, full of deadly mercury, that can release toxic mercury, if dropped? Now I have been told that when these new bulbs die, we are supposed to do something special with them?
I've heard that it can cost as much as two thousand dollars if you drop one bulb - just to clean up the mercury that will be released? Is this really true? Do you know what we have to do?
We supposedly are responsible for taking these bulbs to a toxic waste facility! How much of your time and energy do you want to spend, first looking and finding out where the closest facility is and then how much of our time and gas, do we want to spend, to take that one bulb, to the facility ?
If we don’t do this, Scienceman, what is our alternative?
You ask a good question, Accusim. Many people aren't aware that compact fluorescent bulbs contain tiny amounts of mercury, which they need to create their light. But it's nothing to be alarmed about. The amount is a single bulb is very, very small, and it simply means that you can't throw it out with your regular trash and must take it to your local household hazardous waste collection site instead. At our house, we just keep our burned-out CFLs in a cardboard box in a safe, out-of-the-way place and take them to our district waste station whenever we have another reason to visit. As long as the bulbs remain unbroken, the mercury can't escape and there's no problem with storing them for until a disposal opportunity presents itself.
Still, people have been worried about breaking them and, as you note, there are stories floating around about a single bulb costing homeowners thousands of dollars to clean up. These are just rumors and there's not a shred of truth to them. I tell people to look at it this way: CFLs are basically the same long fluorescent tube lights people have been using for decades, just in a new shape and smaller size. We've never worried about using or handling these "old-fashioned" fluorescent tubes nor have we ever heard about them requiring expensive clean-ups when broken. Therefore we don't need to be afraid of CFLs either. They're the same technology just in a different package.
Still, if a CFL should break there are things we can do to minimize any contact with the mercury they contain. I wrote an article about safe CFL clean-up recently. You can find it here. If you see a broken bulb in a dumpster, unless it was broken within the last several minutes, chances are it's no longer hazardous. The mercury inside has long since vaporized into the air and been blown away. Not the best thing for the environment, of course, but it means there's no longer any immediate hazard to people in the area.
The bottom line is that we should be careful with CFLs but don't need to worry about them. And we certainly shouldn't stop using them! They're a key ingredient in the recipe for a healthy, low-carbon home.