Are the energy efficient bulbs really unsafe??

Question

I've heard that those twisty bulbs are unsafe and can maybe cause cancer. Is that true??

Answer 1

Only harmful if they break, then the mercury is released.

Answer 2

If they break, yes they can be harmful.  They contain about 5 milligrams of mercury which is a toxic element.  They say if you break one in the home you need to take extra precaution to clean it up.  And they cannot be disposed of in garbage because of that same mercury threatening the lives of sanitation workers and ground water, so everyone is supposed to recycle them.  Problem is, there are hardly any facilities anywhere that will accept them.  That's why the government shouldn't set a mandate requiring everyone use them.  Free market, free choice.

EDIT:  Someone just answer me this.  What gives you the right to decide what's an acceptible level of mercury in my home around my family?  I think everyone would be up in arms if lead based paint used less energy to produce than non-lead based paint so it was made into law that everyone must paint their home with it.

Answer 3

They have less mercury than the old thermometers that everybody used to take temperatures when you were sick.

The old CRT computer moniters and TVs have several pounds of lead, mercury and other toxic heavy metals.  I don't see anyone complaining about that.

As long as you don't break it there is no problem.

Answer 4

I have one place in my house where I can't use a compact fluorescent bulb (twisty, with a tiny bit of mercury!). It's a spot where I can totally see myself walking right into the bulb and breaking it. Everywhere else, definitely safe and smart.

No cancer. Mercury is nasty for the nervous system; you could look up Minimata disease. But that's not really relevant -- those people were eating the mercury, and it was more than you'd get unless you broke a fluorescent bulb every day.  

I don't find it hard to recycle them; that might be because I live in a big city. But where do you take unused medication? Paint? Solvents? Used button batteries? Old dead computer equipment, TVs, printers, other electronics? Most counties will have a depot where you can get rid of this stuff and they'll dispose of it safely. I do it once a year. Ask your local Department of Public Works.

Sidebar about mercury and energy efficiency: Did you know that in the US, most of your electrical power comes from burning coal? Did you know that coal has mercury in it, which is emitted from the smokestack at the power plant? It turns out that unless you are very clumsy and break A LOT of bulbs, you actually release LESS mercury into the environment with fluorescent bulbs, because they don't require as much electricity.

This isn't true if you get most of your electricity from hydro dams or nuclear plants. That isn't true in most parts of the US, though.

Answer 5

yes! they contain mercury which can be harmful to your health.

Answer 6

Yes - they contain the heavy metal mercury.

The gvmt should be doing everything it can to get toxins out of household materials.

I don't think they care if a few die as long as they gave up their life for the good of the planet.

Answer 7

only if they break!

otherwise for old people the flickering when they first turn on can cause seizures

Answer 8

They are far less of a hazard than the tube type flourescent light bulbs you see at the malls and everywhere that we've been using since the 1940's.  Same problem with the new ones, just much less of it.

Answer 9

No.  They do contain tiny amount of mercury, as do all fluorescent lightbulbs, including the one in your computer monitor.  

You should recycle them and, if you break one, clean it up carefully.  But they're not unsafe.

And, using compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) actually reduces mercury pollution.

Fossil fuels contain mercury.  Using incandescent bulbs causes more mercury to be emitted from power plants.  More than the tiny amount (0.005 grams or less) that is in a CFL.

It's better if you dispose of old CFLs properly so that even the tiny amount of mercury is not released.  But, no matter how they're disposed of, CFLs reduce mercury pollution.

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/sustainab...

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl...

Answer 10

Life is full of hazards. If I analyze it enough, a hamburger will cause cancer. If I analyze anything enough, I can show it to be hazardous. If ones goal is to eliminate all hazards, then give up now, and just kill yourself. There is much more risk in driving to work or eating to many hamburgers than there is in one of those bulbs. Man lived for a hundred years with Mercury and Radioactive elements all around us. We didn't have any seat belts, airbags, anti bacterial soap, etc., etc. Just about every parent I knew smoked, including my doctor,  dentist, and teacher.

In my opinion, we were much better off then. I suspect if the data were analyzed in detail for the risks, you could break one of those bulbs and your chance of having a problem from cutting yourself is 10,000 times worse.

Maybe we need more hazards. There are way to many people on earth anyway.