NEW LIGHTBULB SAFETY

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) – which save about $47/bulb over the cost of incandescent bulbs – contain a minute amount of mercury and therefore should be disposed of responsibly.

Skeptics leery of the widespread enthusiasm for CFLs make a lot of unnecessary fuss about the mercury and the need to recycle the new, more energy-efficient light bulbs. All used computer components and many digital electronics require recycling because they contain toxic elements. It is simply necessary to collect them all someplace out of the way until there is enough of a load to warrant a run to a nearby recycling center (any Home Depot will take them).

There is also some concern about handling broken CFLs. It is NOT true that broken CFLs require some kind of toxic clean-up crew. (See Light Fingered at Snopes.)

Researchers at Brown University have designed a “nanoselenium” cloth that neutralizes the trace amounts of mercury spilled when CFLs are broken, making them that much safer.

Robert H. Hurt, engineering professor, Brown University/ director, Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation: "It's a complete management system to deal with a bulb broken in the home…"

The cloth would be part of the packaging, available to contain a bulb cracked in shipment, saved to hold a bulb cracked during use or ready to hold a bulb when it burns out - ten years after it is put into service - until it can be transfered to a recycling center along with old cell phones and computer parts.

No more excuses: Start trading those old bulbs for a better world.

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A Cloth to Cut the Mercury Risk from Light Bulbs
Henry Fountain, July 8, 2008 (NY Times)
and
Brown Researchers Create Mercury-Absorbent Container Linings For Broken CFLs
June 30, 2008 (TerraDaily)

WHO
Robert H. Hurt, engineering professor, Brown University; Natalie C. Johnson, engineering student, Brown University

WHAT
Compact fluorescent light bulbs require recycling and cautious handling if they break because they contain small amounts of mercury.

click to enlarge

WHEN
Pending federal legislation phases out incandescents in favor of CFLs by 2012.

WHERE
Brown University research on handling CFLs is published in Environmental Science and Technology

click for Snopes

WHY
- In sufficient amounts, mercury is a neurotoxin. Exposure is considered especially dangerous for pregnant women.
- CFLs use less power because they produce light while losing less power to heat.
- The Brown University researchers experimented with 28 substances (including sulfur, copper and nickel). Mercury was most effectively absorbed by selenium. 10 to 600 nanometer particles bind with the trace mercury spilled from a broken CFL.
- Impregnating cloth with this “nanoselenium” and including it in CFL packaging protects against breakage in shipping and provides something to handle and clean up with if a bulb is broken during use.
- Plastic bags treated with nanoselenium could hold bulbs ready for recycling.
- The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Basic Research Program funded the research.

QUOTES
Robert H. Hurt, engineering professor, Brown University/ director, Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation: "More work is needed…but this appears to be an inexpensive solution that can remove most of the safety concerns associated with CFL bulbs."