Electronic compact fluorescent light bulbs?

Question

read an article today online cnn pointing out that CFLs are highly toxic with about 3-5 mg of mercury that if not disposed of properly will be spewed all over your community, enroute to the landfill in vapor form.Afew micrograms is toxic to humans.My question is, are incandescent bulbs as toxic? the article points out that there are safe alternatives such as magnetic CFLs.Sounds like I have been led to believe that CFLs are less toxic...no way, such is the greed of man it seems.

Answer 1

As a side note, Home Depot accepts cfl bulbs for recycling

Answer 2

No, at least not directly. But the amount of energy saved using CFLs can indirectly offset for toxic waste. Burning coal releases mercury in atmosphere. So saving electricity can indirectly lower mercury levels. What we need is consumer awareness of mercury in CFLs. Not many people are aware of it. There should be high recycle value attached to CFLs so that people bother to recycle them. Also manufacturers should put bold warnings on CFL packagings.

Answer 3

We have another option, the LED, that can supply a lot of lighting with lower environmental impact.

LED does not yet come with a very wide spectrum light, so we may want some CFLs too, to get some colours of light.

My 6 Watt LED appears to give close to the amount of light that a 13 Watt  CFL does.

Answer 4

Then dispose of them properly (governments will need to get around to that, lead acid battery recycling has been very effective).  Not breaking CFLs is really not hard to do (and they aren't as dangerous as some people think they are).

Magnetic CFLs are no different than electronic ones in mercury content, they just have a less advanced (but more expensive) ballast that results in higher power usage and doesn't treat the tube as well during starting (meaning they'll probably have to go to the landfill more often) not to mention flickering more and having more of a buzz.

LEDs may be a solution as well although they're not quite as efficient for white light as CFLs though they will solve the problem of long start up times.

Answer 5

Incandescent bulbs have little if any toxic content.  The toxicity comparisons are based on the greater consumption of fuels at the generating plants to support incandescents, which do use significantly more power than CFLs

The eCFL (and the mCFL in the article) contain mercury, as do the big fluorescent tubes you're used to seeing.  Breaking one will not contaminate your whole community, or neighborhood for that matter.  But the immediate area does need to be cleaned carefully and properly to minimize hazard to the home's residents.

Proper disposal of bulbs is a problem we'll face as the CFLs come into greater (mandated!) use.

Answer 6

There are lots of electronic components in the things too.  I use them in the summer then take them down for the winter. I use electricity to heat the house with anyway so I use the old incandescent bulbs that way I have lots of light plus the heat they make.