If everyone switched to fluorescent lights today how much mercury would go into landfills when those burn out?

Question

I'm afraid you are wrong, they still use mercury:

http://lightingdesignlab.com/articles/mercury_in_fl/mercurycfl.htm

Answer 1

Very little if recycling programs are used to recapture the mercury from those burned out flourescent bulbs.

Answer 2

Almost none.  Modern florescent lghts don't use mercury.  That was about a century ago.

Answer 3

They say the amount of mercury in a compact fluorescent is about the same or less than that of  a watch battery.That's what the pro fluorescent camp says .What I'm wondering is how this is a good argument for it. Any mercury at all in my drinking water is unacceptable to me .I go through one watch battery in maybe 5-10 yrs how many lightbulbs will go in the trash per household in the same timespan.I have 30 in (and around) the house.Let's say I change all the bulbs twice in ten yrs. thats 60 times the amount of mercury going to the landfill than what is in the watch battery. Just stupid politicians trying to pull the wool over our eyes again.They must really take us for idiots ...so what else is new.>>>to bob Well I don't know where you live but more than half  of the electricity produced in canada is hydroelectric and there are no mercury emissions from that and the coal fired plants are being phased out so by the time we've gone through a couple of cycles of changing all our light bulbs your argument will not be  valid anymore.btw the Ontario government says it will ban all incandescents by 2012.Of course, they did this without public consultation.Nice one....jerks! Some people can't stand fluorescescents and those d**n cfl bulbs don't even work outside when it's cold.They just don't think past their own popularity polls.

Answer 4

led lights are the solution, in a few years we will see the change, they use less energy and last longer...

Answer 5

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 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...