Did You Know – CFL Bulbs?

What you don’t know actually CAN hurt you…and especially can hurt those little people and pets you love!As a general rule we don’t use this space, or our time with you each day, to discuss things that could seem to be of a negative nature.  Today we going to make an exception because we think it is important for your safety and that of those you love.

The other day, in a casual conversation, it came to our attention that there was some reason for concern regarding the CFL bulbs we are regularly being encouraged to buy and use in our homes.   Now to give you full disclosure, your Two Chums don’t like these bulbs, but not for the reasons we learned of in this conversation.   We just don’t care for the light they give off and find them harsh and unpleasant.  But it turns out that is really the least of the concerns regarding this “new and better bulb”.

It seems these bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, but since mercury has been identified as a dangerous neurotoxin (another name for poison) that is reason for concern.  Add to that the “small amount” of mercury is about on average 5 milligrams of mercury, enough to contaminate 6,000 gallons of water, and well, you can see why this got our attention!

Not wanting to overreact we did some research.  Some of the facts we found came straight from the website of the EPA concerning disposal of these bulbs and procedures for clean-up in the event of a light bulb breaking.

Now right there, there’s a problem….if you need a list of instructions about how to clean up after breakage and/or dispose of a light bulb, something is very wrong.  It’s a common household light bulb for goodness sake, and now we can’t just throw it away when it is old or broken?  We have to consult a list of instructions for our protection and especially for the protection of our children, pets and the elderly, not to mention ourselves.

If you break one of these bulbs you need to (and we quote from the EPA website):

a. Have people and pets leave the room.
b. Air out the room for 5‐10 minutes by opening a window or door to the outdoor  environment.
c. Shut off the central forced air heating/air‐conditioning  system, if you have one.
d. Collect materials needed to clean up broken bulb:

     stiff paper or cardboard;
     sticky tape;
     damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes (for hard surfaces); and
     a glass jar with a metal lid or a sealable plastic bag.

DO NOT VACUUM

This is just the beginning of the 3 pages document that the EPA gives as their basic instructions.  Whether or not you are using these light bulbs we strongly encourage you to read through the EPA’s document, but it is imperative that you know what it says if you are using CFL bulbs,  and you should encourage everyone you know to read them as well.

We have been warned repeatedly about the dangers of eating too much tuna or any other fish containing mercury, but now we are being encouraged strongly to bring these everyday household items, that require 3 pages of instructions for disposal, into our homes.  What is really troubling is that everyone we’ve talked to has had no idea that they weren’t supposed to throw these bulbs away in their trash cans, much less that they need to know how to clean up should one break.  What happens years from now with landfills full of all those light bulbs that have been thrown out in the trash before we knew we weren’t supposed to do that and have no doubt been broken in the process?  Or what about the ones that get thrown out by people who think their few light bulbs won’t matter in the grand scheme of things and they throw them in the trash anyway?  We wonder how our world will look then.

Even if you happen to believe the benefits outweigh the risks of these CFL bulbs, we encourage you to tell others to look over the list of how to dispose of them.  Everyone needs to have that important info.  Because, as we began this post today by saying, “What you don’t know CAN hurt you.”

To your good health and your abundant living,