[Greenbuilding] Broken CFL Bulbs

[Benjamin Pratt]

Gennaro--
just because you have not noticed any health effects from exposure, it
does not mean it id not harming you or others around you. The effects
could take years to manifest themselves, and may be attributed to
other things.
  I would strongly encourage you to look at the science, and not
anecdotal evidence, and for your sake, refrain from  breaking
fluorescent lights.
Ben


On Fri, Feb 22, 2013 at 10:35 AM, Michael O'Brien <obrien at hevanet.com> wrote:
> Hi, Eli--
>
> Your wife is right to be concerned about mercury. However, if your
> electricity is being generated by a coal-fired power plant, it is putting
> more mercury into the atmosphere than the broken bulb. I mean, the amount of
> mercury in the bulb is only a fraction of the mercury that the bulb's
> electricity use creates. It's just more immediately obvious when the source
> is at your feet.
>
> In our house we use a mix of CFLs and halogens. The halogens are 20W floods
> on tracks that run off a common 600W transformer, which makes the individual
> fixtures inexpensive. We like the brighter, contrastier light for some
> functions, like reading or working at the dining room table. At 20W each the
> power consumption is not horrible.
>
> Best,
>
> Mike O'Brien
>
> Mike O'Brien Photography
> mikeoregon.zenfolio.com
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 22, 2013, at 8:07 AM, Eli Talking wrote:
>
> We have been encouraged to use CFL bulbs to save energy which reduces
> pollution from the reduced production of power that it would take to feed
> that same amount of light of incandescent bulbs.  However, the mercury
> contained within is an environmental threat.  I felt incomplete when there
> was no way to dispose of burnt out bulbs until Lowe’s starting taking them
> locally.  However, how should we clean up the inevitable breakage in the
> home.
>
> http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl
>
> describes the EPA’s answer to that.
>
> My wife has picked up on this threat and has insisted we return to the
> inefficient incandescent.
>
> Thoughts are appreciated on the response to the threat of broken cfl bulbs.
>
> Are LED lights ready to replace the common side lamps?
>
> Eli
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-- 


b e n j a m i n p r a t t

professor art+design
the university of wisconsin stout