🚀 go-pugleaf

On Feb 18, 12:50 pm, John Henderson <jhenRemoveT...@talk21.com> wrote:
> 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- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

John,

Thanks for the feedback.

Do you know if CFLs have the same amount of mercury in them as other
fluorescent tubes.