Thread: FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULB WARNING -mercury

FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULB WARNING
http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind1.htm
By Rosalind Peterson
May 14, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

There is a movement by many states and localities to ban incandescent light bulbs and convert to total use of fluorescent bulbs (CFL) to save energy. And yet there are few who have read the small print on the tiny inside package label of fluorescent bulbs or heard about the EPA’s problems with regard to mercury contamination. What should you know about fluorescent light bulbs?

1) Heat resistant glass is used in these bulbs. The quartz arc tube, when operating creates light by generating a considerable amount of Ultraviolet (UV) radiation. How much exposure to this UV radiation goes through the heat resistant glass and what are the human health problems associated with this exposure? How does the public know that the exposure is safe for children and adults?

2) If the glass is broken serious skin burn and eye inflammation from short-wave ultraviolet radiation may occur. Many of these fluorescent bulbs are constructed without automatic shut offs if the light bulbs are broken, thus exposing people to this type of harmful UV radiation.

3) In the workplace many employees subjected to this type of lighting develop eyestrain and headaches. In many cases the flickering of these types of lights causes workplace eyestrain and irritation from the lighting being too bright. These issues do not appear to have any solutions at this time other than the use of incandescent light bulbs.

4) According to California Assembly Bill 1109 (2007) Section (e): “…Most fluorescent lighting products contain hazardous levels of mercury. Most incandescent lighting products contain hazardous levels of lead. California prohibits disposing of hazardous lighting products in the solid waste stream. The hazardous materials in these products can be managed through recycling, but current recycling opportunities and levels are virtually nonexistent for most consumers...â€

Fluorescent lights have been used for that past 30 years or so at least and unless I'm mistaken those long tubes contain mercury vapor as well. There doesn't seem to have been a public health emergency created from them being used or when one of them breaks. This seems to be fear mongering to me.

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Spills, Site Cleanup and Disposal


Click here: Spills, Site Cleanup and Disposal | Mercury | US EPA
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm#flourescent

Spills, Disposal and Site Cleanup
Humans use mercury in a variety of manufacturing processes and products such as thermometers and fluorescent lamps. If you improperly dispose of products with mercury in them,
they may break and release mercury vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health.
Dispose of used mercury-containing items properly.
Clean up mercury spills properly and report them to the proper authorities when necessary.

What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks

Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.

Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag.

Use disposable rubber gloves, if available (i.e., do not use bare hands).

Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the plastic bag.

Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

Place all cleanup materials in a second sealed plastic bag.

Place the first bag in a second sealed plastic bag and put it in the outdoor trash container or in another outdoor protected area for the next normal trash disposal.

Note: Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a local recycling center.
Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

If a fluorescent bulb breaks on a rug or carpet:

First, remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner, following the steps above. Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.

If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag or vacuum debris in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal

Spills of More than the Amount in a Thermometer, but Less Than or Similar to Two Tablespoons (One Pound)

Cleanup Instructions

1. Have everyone else leave the area; don't let anyone walk through the mercury on their way out.
2. Open all windows and doors to the outside.
3. Turn down the temperature.
4. Shut all doors to other parts of the house, and leave the area.
Don't vacuum.
5. Call your local fire department. If they are unable to assist you, contact your local or state health or environmental agency.

What to Do if a Mercury Thermometer Breaks

NOTE: these instructions also apply to spills from other sources, if the amount spilled is less than or similar to the amount in a thermometer (see specific information above about how to clean up broken fluorescent lamps)
Have everyone else leave the area; don't let anyone walk through the mercury on their way out. Make sure all pets are removed from the area.

Open all windows and doors to the outside; shut all doors to other parts of the house.

DO NOT allow children to help you clean up the spill.

Mercury can be cleaned up easily from the following surfaces: wood, linoleum, tile and any similarly smooth surfaces.

If a spill occurs on carpet, curtains, upholstery or other absorbent surfaces, these contaminated items should be thrown away in accordance with the disposal means outlined below.
Only cut and remove the affected portion of the contaminated carpet for disposal.

THERE IS MORE INFO AT EPA LINK ABOVE............

All that for a light bulb and this fakery of global warming scare. Al Gore is a mental case that has the illusion he is going to save the world. He is a big pompous, bleating ass.

Maybe everybody should dump their plasma tvs that use 7X more energy than a normal television. That would be like having them give up their SUV's.

http://www.nov55.com/gbwm.html (CO2 and Global warming)

CO2 does not cause global warming. Scientifically, it cannot. CO2 only absorbs IR radiation. Doubling the CO2 doesn't double the heat, it shortens the absorption distance from about 10 meters to about 8 meters.

Think of it as a sponge, but there is an exact amount of water to be absorbed. If the first sponge absorbs all the water...adding a bigger sponge does nothing, because there is no water to absorb.

A 1% variation in water vapor has an effect greater than doubling or tripling the CO2. Water Vapor is 97% of greenhouse gases. CO2 is 0.04% of atmosphere and humans add about 0.0004 of that amount. Considering 384PPM, that is not a fraction of a part! Gore won't debate anyone on the subject. It's all a giant scam built on assumptions feed into computer models that spit out more assumptions and the models were NEVER iniatilized. Dr. Trebreth said the IPCC made NO predictions only assumptions based on a lot of "What Ifs". He also stated the models were flawed and we were only at the BEGINNING of the science, NOT the end. Dr. Trebreth was part of the IPCC, which was headed up by an Industrial Engineer from India. There were few actual climatoligists on the IPCC, when you study them, you find a mix of bureaucrats, scientists, but not necessary climate scientists.

I NOTICE HE ALWAYS USES THE IF THIS HAPPENS THAT WILL HAPPEN........


HE'S LOOKING FOR HIS 15 MINS. OF FAME

I THINK HE NEEDS A CHECK-UP FROM THE NECK-UP

Originally Posted by patbrunz

Fluorescent lights have been used for that past 30 years or so at least and unless I'm mistaken those long tubes contain mercury vapor as well. There doesn't seem to have been a public health emergency created from them being used or when one of them breaks. This seems to be fear mongering to me.

Fluorescent tubes have been around alot longer than 30 years. The air we breath every day is more hazardous than a Fluorescent lamp. Mercury is heavy, it doesn't float away. It goes right to the ground. This is like saying used motor oil will cause cancer. Yea maybe if you swim in it all the time, for years. Even then Maybe! Remember this is the same people (EPA) who said ground zero (9/11 WTC) was safe to breath 3 days after.

I wonder how much money Al Gore has invested in these new light bulbs. They want to outlaw the old ones in order to sell these new ones at 3x the price.

Originally Posted by jp_48504

I wonder how much money Al Gore has invested in these new light bulbs. They want to outlaw the old ones in order to sell these new ones at 3x the price.

There are a list of companies involved with Gore's carbon offset scheme and you can bet Phillips Lighting is one of them. Gore is the Chairman of the organization that controls investments in "green" companies. He buys offsets from HIMSELF! All the proceeds from Live Earth went into Gore's organization.

The bulbs may not be dangerous, but you will not be able to toss them away. You can be sure that regulations will follow because in the example given, the mecury levels surpass safe levels in the area of the broken bulb.

There are thousands of scientists that disagree with the Global Warming hypotheses but the MSM either ignores or demeans them. Chief among these scientists are some of the top names in the world such as William Gray, the worlds foremost hurricane expert. Dr. Trebreth of Colorado, one of the proponents of AGW recently said, "The IPCC made NO predictions, only possibilities based on a lot of 'What Ifs.' It's also interesting to note the Chairman of the IPCC is an Industrial Engineer from India. Less than half the 2500 member panel are climate scientists. A group of over 19,000 scientists have signed a statement indicating their opposition to the hypotheses.

When people like Robert Kennedy and the MSM start calling people traitors, deniers on a par with the Holocaust, and a host of others, something is very fishy about the whole thing. I have read stacks of material from both sides and you either believe a climate "crystal ball" that is flawed or you believe observed conditions and past data. CO2 is a minor greenhouse gas that only absorbs IR radiation which is limited in the span of 10-12 hour uptake. CO2 increases, FOLLOW warming, not the opposite.

Think wealth redistribution and control......the Global Warming movement is being pushed by dangerous elements and people with other agendas! The UN will try and use this to gain as much control as possible and to impose an internation gas tax of .35 cents. If they succeed you will be paying "enviormental fees" on anything that uses energy or is the product of energy use.....that is EVERYTHING!

Just remember the next time you exhale, you are polluting the environment according to Gore and the Supreme Court.