Are we going to die!!

2088 Views 27 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Chris, Sep 20, 2007

MacGuiver

Discussion Starter · Sep 15, 2007

Yikes!!

In an effort to save the planet, we bought those low energy bulbs (the ones full of mercury) and one just broke in a lamp on my kids desk.

Question: Is all the talk of toxic disposal teams an urban legend or is this really serious? Can we just carefully clean this mess up and go on with life?

Thanks
MacGuiver

CALL OFF THE HOUNDS!

The average four-foot fluorescent lamp, meanwhile, contains around 8 milligrams, or about 60 times less mercury than is contained in a typical 500-milligram fever thermometer. With such small amounts of mercury, therefore, broken lamps would appear to pose virtually no risk of harm. Legal requirements for disposal vary, however, and in some jurisdictions mercury-added lamps are prohibited from disposal in landfills or incinerators.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

HowEver

· #2 · Sep 15, 2007

That's so funny. So. Funny.

MacGuiver said:
Yikes!!

In an effort to save the planet, we bought those low energy bulbs (the ones full of mercury) and one just broke in a lamp on my kids desk.

Question: Is all the talk of toxic disposal teams an urban legend or is this really serious? Can we just carefully clean this mess up and go on with life?

Thanks
MacGuiver

CALL OFF THE HOUNDS!

The average four-foot fluorescent lamp, meanwhile, contains around 8 milligrams, or about 60 times less mercury than is contained in a typical 500-milligram fever thermometer. With such small amounts of mercury, therefore, broken lamps would appear to pose virtually no risk of harm. Legal requirements for disposal vary, however, and in some jurisdictions mercury-added lamps are prohibited from disposal in landfills or incinerators.

MacGuiver

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 15, 2007

It may sound funny but I was genuinely concerned.
I had heard of this case of a woman in Maine that had to pay a hazardous materials team over $2000 to clean up after one broke. :yikes: It was reported in the papers too so it must be more than an urban legend.

The CFL mercury nightmare

The info I found above was from the manufacture's web link on the box. I'll take them at their word we'll be fine.

http://www.lamprecycle.org/

Cheers
MacGuiver

HowEver

· #4 · Sep 15, 2007

MacGuiver said:
It may sound funny but I was genuinely concerned.
I had heard of this case of a woman in Maine that had to pay a hazardous materials team over $2000 to clean up after one broke. :yikes: It was reported in the papers too so it must be more than an urban legend.

The CFL mercury nightmare

The info I found above was from the manufacture's web link on the box. I'll take them at their word we'll be fine.

http://www.lamprecycle.org/

Cheers
MacGuiver

Read this:

Urban Legends Reference Pages: CFL Mercury

Remember that newspapers and TV news also reported that cell phones start gas station fires. They don't. A reporter picked up a hoax email as if it were true, and reported it, and was copied by others.

What should I do if a CFL breaks?

Because there is such a small amount of mercury in CFLs, your greatest risk if a bulb breaks is getting cut from glass shards. Research indicates that there is no immediate health risk to you or your family should a bulb break and it’s cleaned up properly. You can minimize any risks by following these proper clean-up and disposal guidelines:

Sweep up; don’t vacuum; all of the glass fragments and fine particles.

Place broken pieces in a sealed plastic bag and wipe the area with a damp paper towel to pick up any stray shards of glass or fine particles. Put the used towel in the plastic bag as well.

If weather permits, open windows to allow the room to ventilate.

monokitty

· #5 · Sep 15, 2007

Best thread title ever.

MacGuiver

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 15, 2007

HowEver said:
Read this:

Urban Legends Reference Pages: CFL Mercury

Remember that newspapers and TV news also reported that cell phones start gas station fires. They don't. A reporter picked up a hoax email as if it were true, and reported it, and was copied by others.

Yeah I'm sure that happens. A trip to Snopes.com straightened out that story. However its still alarming when you read the recommended cleanup proceedure.
This from the Maine Department of Health.

What if I accidentally break a fluorescent bulb in my home?

The most important thing to remember is to never use a vacuum . A standard vacuum will spread mercury containing dust throughout the area as well as potentially contaminating the vacuum. What you should do is:

Keep people and pets away from the breakage area so that the mercury in the powder inside the bulb is not accidentally tracked into other areas.
Ventilate the area by opening windows.
Wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as rubber gloves, safety glasses, old clothing or coveralls, and a dust mask (if you have one) to keep bulb dust and glass from being inhaled.
Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass container with a metal screw top and gasket seal like a canning jar.
Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. You can use a disposable broom and dustpan or two stiff pieces of paper to scoop up pieces.
Put all material into the glass container. Pat the area with the sticky side of duct, packing or masking tape. Wipe the area with a damp cloth or paper towels to pick up fine particles.
Put all waste and materials used to clean up the bulb in the glass container and label it “Universal Waste - broken lamp”.
Take the container for recycling as universal waste. To determine where your town has made arrangements for recycling of this type of waste, call your town office or check out the Maine Department of Environmental Protection website at http://www.maine.gov/dep/rwm/hazardouswaste/uwmunicipalmaster.xls
The next time you replace a bulb, consider putting a drop cloth on the floor so that any accidental breakage can be easily cleaned up.

Sounds like something out of the movie Outbreak.

Cheers
MacGuiver

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MacGuiver

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 15, 2007

Lars said:
Best thread title ever.

It gets your attention doesn't it.

I thought of writing "what to do with about broken bulb?" but I figured nobody would read it.

The bulb is all cleaned up now and I was probably exposed to more mercury in my last tuna sandwich.

Cheers
MacGuiver

HowEver

· #8 · Sep 15, 2007

MacGuiver said:
It gets your attention doesn't it.
I thought of writing "what to do with about broken bulb?" but I figured nobody would read it.
The bulb is all cleaned up now and I was probably exposed to more mercury in my last tuna sandwich.

Cheers
MacGuiver

Lars was ridiculing you. Everybody dies. Think of every thread you ever read on ehMac and everywhere else as having "Are we going to die?" as the subtext. (By the way, every thread also answers, "Yes.")

Kosh

· #9 · Sep 15, 2007

Mercury poisoning isn't that easy... trust me, I've played with the stuff in science class some years ago and I'm still living... I may have 3 arms, 4 legs and 4 eyes, but...:lmao:

Macfury

· #10 · Sep 15, 2007

I think Lars liked it--as I did.

Lars?

jamesB

· #11 · Sep 15, 2007

Kosh said:
Mercury poisoning isn't that easy... trust me, I've played with the stuff in science class some years ago and I'm still living... I may have 3 arms, 4 legs and 4 eyes, but...:lmao:

This, I tend to agree with.
As a kid we used to play with mercury (called it quicksilver) whenever we could get our hands on any.
As an adult, I spent 40 years as an industrial instrument technician, up until the electronic era most of the flowmeters we used contained mercury, some up to 20-30 lbs. We handled this stuff all the time with no protective gear.
And the only caution taken while in storage, and we could have 2-3 hundred lbs around at any given time, was to keep an inch or 2 of water on top of the mercury as a seal from the atmosphere.
Then sometime in the mid seventies the gov. got concerned about it and tested us all for mercury poisoning, I do not recall anyone I knew testing positive.
Today I'm over seventy, and what little health problems I may have, cannot in any way be blamed on mercury.

jb.

gordguide

· #12 · Sep 15, 2007

Yes.

FeXL

· #13 · Sep 15, 2007

gordguide said:
Yes.

Damn.

I wanted to be the first to give this response.

Fine, I'll take second.

Yes (too).

HowEver

· #14 · Sep 15, 2007

gordguide said:
Yes.

gordguide's shortest post ever. To date.

The Doug

· #15 · Sep 15, 2007 (Edited)

Is he up to the challenge of making a shorter post?

Kosh

· #16 · Sep 17, 2007

HowEver said:
gordguide's shortest post ever. To date.

Well, he did answer the question concisely and accurately.

We're all going to die.

Kazak

· #17 · Sep 18, 2007

Lars said:
Best thread title ever.

I have to disagree. This is the best thread title ever.

I won't speculate as to whether the two titles are related.

iMatt

· #18 · Sep 18, 2007

The Doug said:
Is he up to the challenge of making a shorter post?

If he answers "no", then the answer is really "yes, he is", being an even shorter post, but since he will have answered "no", the post will be simultaneously true and false. Being yet not being, as self-nullifying as matter and anti-matter in contact.

So I vote "no."

Chantal

· #19 · Sep 18, 2007

Heh heh ...

MacGuiver said:
The bulb is all cleaned up now and I was probably exposed to more mercury in my last tuna sandwich.

MasterBlaster

· #20 · Sep 18, 2007 (Edited)

.

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