🚀 go-pugleaf

Mr Right wrote:

> I would like to ensure a future for our planet and its
> species. I am in favor of reducing pollution, making more
> efficient use of energy and resources, and saving money sounds
> like a great idea.
> 
> However, I am very concerned about these compact fluorescent
> lightbulbs (CFLs). As pointed out above, they contain mercury,
> a highly toxic heavy metal. They need to be disposed of as
> 'hazardous waste'.
> 
> That is bad enough, but there is more. I know of some places
> in the world, where the CFLs are sold with no warning on the
> box that the product even contains mercury. There is also no
> warning about disposing of them as 'hazardous waste'.
> Presumably the labelling laws allow this, and I am sure it
> helps sales if you omit the fact that the product contains
> mercury. How many other places in the world allow this
> situation with mercury or other toxic and dangerous products.

All fluorescent tubes contain mercury, so it's not just CFLs. 
It's the electric discharge through ionized mercury which
produces the UV light, which in turn gets "downshifted" to
visible light by the fluorescent coating on the inside of the
glass.

But the amount required is small indeed.  A bigger problem might
be the much higher amounts of that other toxic heavy metal,
lead.  It's in the solder used in incandescent bulbs too, and
more of them get thrown away than CFLs because they don't last
as long.

> One person when asked about the danger of mercury in CFLs was
> reported to have said "Don't worry, there is not enough
> mercury in a single light bulb to kill you". !!!

Mercury is toxic, but don't overestimate the danger.  Back when
I went to primary school, rolling a ball of liquid metallic
mercury across the floor was a favourite in-class diversion. 
But let's reclaim these metals - I'm all for that.  LED
lighting should become cheap enough to replace CFLs before too
long, and it's demand for CFLs which will drive this technology
rather than demand for incandescents.
 
> So John, in the short term, you are saving money, sleeping
> well at night, and allowing mercury, a highly toxic heavy
> metal, to be released into the environment. Personally I would
> rather take my chances with CO2.

Your choice, of course.

John