Think before you make a change. Your incandescent bulb may not be energy efficient, but it is not toxic as many of the CFLs
The good old incandescent lamp (bulb) is the bad bald guy now. It is not energy efficient; using an incandescent lamp increases your carbon footprint – how dreadful that is! Everyone suddenly loves to those Compact Fluorescent Lamps; they are energy efficient by up to a whopping 75 per cent and have a life-span six times more than an incandescent lamp.
Even the Environment Protection Agency in the US doesn’t have a rating system for CFLs to suggest whether one brand is better than the other. Go to any store to buy a CFL, you would find 15watt CFLs made by different brands priced differently. So much so some are double the price than the cheapest. Anyone who has been using CFLs for more than a year would vouch that the cheaper ones, usually made in China, don’t last that long and also gives you less lux.
On the energy scale, CFLs have a big advantage over the incandescent lamps on the sustainability factor. But when it comes to the green credentials, CFLs wouldn’t simply make the cut. All CFLs contain mercury, which most consumers take for granted. The cheap Chinese-made CFLs seem to have more mercury in them.
According to the EPA website, “Mercury is well-documented as a toxic, environmentally persistent substance that demonstrates the ability to bioaccumulate and to be atmospherically transported on a local, regional, and global scale. In addition, mercury can be environmentally transformed into methylmercury which biomagnifies and is highly toxic.”
Department of Environmental Protection in Maine, USA, has done some remarkable work on the safety of Compact Fluorescent Lamps, and come up with cleanup guidance for consumers.
“Forty five (45) experimental trials where compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) were broken in a small/ moderate sized room were conducted in May through September of 2007. Eighteen (18) trials, three trials each of six differing scenarios, were originally planned for this study; however, additional trials were added to attempt to more fully address potential cleanup concerns. Broken lamps were either not cleaned up, cleaned up using Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) pre-study cleanup guidance, vacuumed, or cleaned up using variations of the pre-study cleanup guidance. The mercury concentrations at the five foot height (adult breathing zone) and one foot height (infant/toddler breathing zone) above the study room floor were continuously monitored. The most notable finding of the study was how variable the results can be depending on the type of lamp, level of ventilation and cleanup method.
“Mercury concentration in the study room air often exceeds the Maine Ambient Air Guideline (MAAG) of 300 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3) for some period of time, with short excursions over 25,000 ng/m3, sometimes over 50,000 ng/m3, and possibly over 100,000 ng/m3 from the breakage of a single compact fluorescent lamp. A short period of venting can, in most cases, significantly reduce the mercury air concentrations after breakage. Concentrations can sometimes rebound when rooms are no longer vented, particularly with certain types of lamps and during/after vacuuming. Mercury readings at the one foot height tend to be greater than at the five foot height in non vacuumed situations.”
In most countries there are absolutely no facilities provided by the local bodies or the government to recycle CFLs safely. According to a report from the European Commission's Environment Directorate-General, in the EU, 9.2 per cent of mercury contained in CFLs is eventually emitted to the atmosphere.
In Taiwan, there is a compulsory government programme which ensures that 87 per cent of all CFLs are recycled. In the US, about 20 per cent of CFLs are recycled. In no other country in the world do we find even close to ten per cent of CFLs being safely recycled.
Champions of CFLs are always going to claim that the mercury content in CFLs is negligible. But is it really the case? A few kilometres away from the Kochi International Airport, and close to the Periyar River, this scribe found a pile of used CFLs – with their metallic bottom removed (recycled of course) and dumped by the road side. There were similar piles of thousands of used CFLs dumped here and there – some closer to ground water systems, which provide drinking water to a big population.
In the name of energy saving, we just cannot let toxic mercury spread in the air or anywhere. Maybe for China, which produces a great deal of mercury as a by-product in their Coal Power Plants, it’s a good idea to stuff high levels of mercury in CFLs and export it to other nations. It’s an ingenious Chinese method of dumping toxic waste through consumer products!
European Union has set the standard on CFLs – less than 5mg of mercury in each lamp. Government agencies and NGOs must keep an eye on what standards are being followed in the Middle East; if less than 5mg is good for the Europeans, it must be good for us too.
The energy efficiency of an incandescent lamp is around 20 per cent of the most efficient CFL. Why does such data frighten us, when the energy efficiency of most cars that are being sold and driven around is about 21 per cent?
When there is an energy crisis, governments do want to see reduction in consumption. To some big corporate entities, any reduction in electricity consumption – even if it means poisoning our environment, it’s all about carbon trading: making more profits.
We are not too far away from LED lighting becoming a reality, which will provide higher energy efficiency and non-toxic solution to our lighting needs.
CFL Cleanup GuidanceWhat if you accidentally break a fluorescent lamp in your home? The lamp contains a small amount of mercury, but you can clean this up yourself if you do the following: • Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean up the breakage. This will spread the mercury vapour and dust throughout the area and could potentially contaminate the vacuum. • Keep people and pets away from the breakage area until the cleanup is complete. • Ventilate the area by opening windows, and leave the area for 15 minutes before returning to begin the cleanup. Mercury vapour levels will be lower by then. • For maximum protection and if you have them, wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the sharp glass. • Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass container with a metal screw top lid and seal like a canning jar. A glass jar with a good seal works best to contain any mercury vapours inside. • Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. You can use two stiff pieces of paper such as index cards or playing cards to scoop up pieces. • Pat the area with the sticky side of duct tape, packing tape or masking tape to pick up fine particles. Wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel to pick up even finer particles. • Put all waste and materials into the glass container, including all material used in the cleanup that may have been contaminated with mercury. Label the container as “Universal Waste - broken lamp.” • Remove the container with the breakage and cleanup materials from your home. This is particularly important if you do not have a glass container. • Continue ventilating the room for several hours. • Wash your hands and face. • Take the glass container with the waste material to a facility that accepts “universal waste” for recycling. To determine where your municipality has made arrangements for recycling of this type of waste, call your municipal office. • When a break happens on carpeting, home-owners may consider removing throw rugs or the area of carpet where the breakage occurred as a precaution, particularly if the rug is in an area frequented by infants, small children or pregnant women. • Finally, if the carpet is not removed, open the window to the room during the next several times you vacuum the carpet to provide good ventilation. |
The next time you replace a lamp, consider putting a drop cloth on the floor so that any accidental breakage can be easily cleaned up. If consumers remain concerned regarding safety, they may consider not utilising fluorescent lamps in situations where they could easily be broken. Consumers may also consider avoiding CFL usage in bedrooms or carpeted areas frequented by infants, small children, or pregnant women. Finally, consider not storing too many used/spent lamps before recycling as that may increase your chances of breakage. Don’t forget to properly recycle your used fluorescent bulbs so they don’t break and put mercury into our environment.
