Megan of Not Martha had a mishap while carrying a standing lamp which led to a broken CFL...clean up ensued, followed by the thought..."oh right, CFL bulbs contain mercury" Yikes. She followed up with thorough research...
...totally worth a read and a bookmark "just in case" you ever find yourself in the same predicament.
Click through to read the clear headed step by step at Not Martha.
Originally posted by Janel on AT:Chicago.
Comments (3)
Jeez Louise, I never had any idea that they contained mercury. Isn't that sort of a conflict of environmental interest? These things that are supposed to be so fantastic for the environment contain a horrible poisonous material?
On the other hand, sometimes I think these health hazards are blown out of proportion. Does anyone else remember being a kid and playing with mercury from a broken thermometer? I swear we did that in one of my science classes, and I'm totally fine now. That third eye I've developed on my forehead is completely unrelated, I swear.
It is a conflict of interest, but until the price of LEDs comes down, it's the best choice. You should be able to find info on where to safely dispose of them on any brand you buy. I do think the warning should be larger on the package, but then no one would buy them.
What utter overreaction to a mundane experience...people have no sense of what's dangerous and what's not, and the EPA just make it worse by their vastly overblown instructions, no doubt written by a cadre of lawyers.
See my complete rant on this issue at website:
http://seeinggreen.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/04/every-few-days.html