http://ourgffamily.com/2008/03/mercury-in-compact-fluorescent-bulbs.html/ My WordPress Blog Wed, 16 Sep 2015 12:01:09 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.38 http://ourgffamily.com/2008/03/mercury-in-compact-fluorescent-bulbs.html/#comment-55 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:52:00 +0000 http://205.134.241.29/~ourgff5/?p=1152#comment-55 Most CFLs today on the market contain less than 5mgs of mercury and there are CFL options out there that contain as little as 1.5mgs of mercury- which can hardly be called a “significant amounts of mercury” considering that many item in your home contain 100s of times more of mercury including your computer. Mercury levels in CFLs can never be “nonexistent” since mercury is a necessary component of a CFL and there is no other known element that is capable of replacing it. But CFLs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output”.

]]> http://ourgffamily.com/2008/03/mercury-in-compact-fluorescent-bulbs.html/#comment-43 Fri, 02 May 2008 17:07:00 +0000 http://205.134.241.29/~ourgff5/?p=1152#comment-43 As someone who sells light bulbs for a living, I am less enthusiastic than most about compact fluorescent bulbs. This is due to the fact that the ones currently available contain significant amounts of mercury. If one of these bulbs should break inside of a person’s home, it could cause a challenging disposal situation. It is my belief that the technology should progress to a point at which the mercury levels are low or nonexistent before people changeover their entire homes. Another consideration is that as these bulbs burn out, they will most likely be thrown away as though they are normal rubbish and landfills will have incredibly high levels of mercury in their soil as a result.

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