Do you know how to clean up a broken compact flourescent lamp (CFL)?
2010 December 30
Compact flourescent lamps (CFLs) are a great way to save energy and prevent greenhouse gas emissions, but they also contain a small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. EPA recently updated our guidance on how to properly clean up a broken CFL, including a new consumer brochure with CFL recycling and cleanup tips.
Editor's Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.
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The CFLs that I have purchased often stop working much sooner than advertised. They often don’t last one year. If this is a widespread experience by other customers, does this mean that much more mercury is used in society’s effort to replace the incandecent bulbs AND does this mean that the vacumm is broken and gas, including mercury is released, when bulbs cease to light?
In terms of environmental justice I think we need to continue to be diligent to make sure that we are not letting the mercury that is collected form used CFLs enter into potential contact with low income and minority communities and other communities at large. Particularly in terms of bio accumulation in fish used for consumption we should insure that Mercury sources form the waste stream or in cases where the lights are “recycled” are controlled. In my community we have a waste to energy plant and I have not heard of any releases form CFLs but know that many households are disposing of these in the trash can that untimely goes to the Waste to Energy Plant. I also know that in Florida we have Mercury advisories for certain types of fish so it would appear that Mercury is still entering and staying in the environment.
In my locale (Berkeley, California) broken CFLs, as well as whole ones that no longer work, can be taken to the Berkeley Recycling Center located at 2nd Street and Gilman Street, Berkeley, California.
Their website is http://berkeleyrecycling.org for further information.
Berkeley Recycling Center will accept broken CFLs if they are bagged up.
I use leather gloves when handling broken CFLs to protect myself not only from broken glass, but also from small amounts of mercury that may be plated out on the inside of the glass, and can be exposed if the lamp is broken. I like sturdy zip-lock bags to bag up broken bulb(s) to meet the recycling center’s acceptance criterion.
Some information about hazards and protection for CFLs is available at:
http://www.tcpi.com/PDF/2007_40495%20TCP%20MSDS%20CFL%20rev%20SS.pdf ,
which is a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) supplied by TCP, Inc.
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