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Ethical living

Discover eco friendly brands and sustainable fashion on our Ethical Living forum.

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Original poster

Just smashed energy saving lightbulb..man on TV this am said evacuate room if this happens..why?

71 replies

eltham · 08/01/2009 17:19

Any ideas why the advice is to evacuate the room if you smash an energy-saving lightbulb..it's out bedroom one so it won't stay evacuated for long? Typical TV report..:

Interviewer - ..and is it true you have to evacuate the room if you smash an energy-saving lightbulb?

Expert: yes that's right

End of interview

Why? why? Why?

OP posts:

Northernlurker · 08/01/2009 22:56

oh good grief - how they can not be sold without some sort of health warning on them? Oh hang on might that stop people from buying them and cause riots in the supermarkets....

3littlefrogs · 08/01/2009 23:00

@ lamisilonce

bellabelly · 08/01/2009 23:00

edam, fantastic post. Please become Prime Minister and talk some sense into people.

3littlefrogs · 08/01/2009 23:02

Does anybody else actually have trouble seeing/reading etc with these bulbs? I find the light they give is very poor - (if you are a bit old and past it like me, and need reading glasses).

3littlefrogs · 08/01/2009 23:04

I don't think they would be much good in A&E for example - stitching wounds, removing things from eyes etc.

sunitaofdockgreen · 08/01/2009 23:13

I feel like an energy saving lightbulb, very slow to turn on, then give a very dim light after that!

edam · 09/01/2009 08:55

bella and frogs. Maybe I should start a 'blasted buggering EU party'? (Actually think UKIP have cornered that market...)

twentypence · 09/01/2009 08:59

Isn't the mercury a vapour? So opening a window would be enough.

NZ was almost in same state but luckily had elections and the other guys got in.

crokky · 09/01/2009 09:21

This makes me really angry.

I moved in here just over a year ago and stripped every single energy saving lightbulb from this house because I didn't think it was apprpriate to have all that mercury in a place with a baby and a toddler. I gave the lot to my godmother and always give her any I get free as well.

Of course we all need to save the environment but these stupid things aren't saving the environment - they're just poison!!!!!!!!!!!! When is anyone with authority going to realise? It makes me so cross - there was a thread on here yesterday about them phasing out ordinary lightbulbs.

EachPeachPearMum · 09/01/2009 10:24

I can't believe that they spin us crap about not having normal lightbulbs because they aren't environmentally friendly... then these ones have MERCURY in them?
Well thats really eco-friendly, isn't it, heavy metals in the production of all lightbulbs?
And as Edam says- we don't have any blardy choice about this.

Original poster

eltham · 11/01/2009 14:56

oh well....feel very iffy about using the old vacuum cleaner now especially as I hoovered the bloody thing up before I read you should on no account do this! Will have to check tomorrow with council about how to dispose of old one...costing me a fortune this is..now need a new hoover

OP posts:

Stefka · 11/01/2009 15:05

I had no idea about all this! I am really shocked. How on earth can it be a good idea for us all to have these in our homes? I want rid of mine now. Can you still buy normal bulbs?

WhatFreshHellIsThis · 11/01/2009 15:10

The bulb that smashed, did it have a glass outer and then a glass looking coil bit inside? If just the outer glass smashed, the mercury won't have been released.

The amount of mercury is so tiny that it won't cause you any harm if you smash the occasional one.

Also, this is from Greenpeace:

"Louise Molloy from the environmental group Greenpeace said that a public information campaign was needed in order to advise people how to dispose of low-energy bulbs safely.

But she added: "Rather than being worried about the mercury these light bulbs contain, the general public should be reassured that using them will actually reduce the amount of mercury overall in our atmosphere." "

themildmanneredjanitor · 11/01/2009 15:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

eltham · 12/01/2009 11:01

I don't know if the coil was broken..tbh, at the time, I didn't know it had a coil. The black tip at the top (looking at it from outside) was not broken. I couldn't see up inside..the broken bit was at the bottom of the bulb. Public information all seems a bit contradictory. Greenpeace say none-threatening..DEFRA say exact caution.

OP posts:

Ripeberry · 12/01/2009 11:13

Yes, but it all these enviromental people who are getting us all to buy these bulbs. As long as it saves the planet and all that, not interested in any individual's person's health.

brimfull · 12/01/2009 11:36

eltham-Are you seriously going to chuck out your hoover?

Can you not just empty it?

Original poster

eltham · 12/01/2009 16:27

well I don't know if I can just empty it or not. They (DEFRA) say don't pick up the smashed bulb by vacuum but I'd already done that. I don't think they say why. I have absolutely no idea what happens to the mercury and what form it takes if you do hoover it up..how long it stays in the tubes of the vacuum (only to be blown out as soon as you next use it?). I have two small kids and feel a bit wary of this. At the moment it's bagged up in our back yard. I rang the council today..who were pretty hopeless..and they said just throw the lightbulbs in the council tip (!)..where they'd go to landfill. A chemist friend of mine said if it were him, he'd be very careful (he currently teaches chemistry at a high school.Wouldn't the mecury have got into the filters of the vacuum? Does it completely evaporate even in the restricted confines of a hoover tube? If so, why do they tell us to evacuate the room and ventilate the room for at least 15 mins?

OP posts:

Whizzz · 12/01/2009 16:31

crokky - the mercury is OK as long it is contained within the light bulbs. They are perfectly OK to use. Mercury is toxic yes, but only if it is ingested or vapours breathed into the body

JollyPirate · 12/01/2009 16:37

I smashed one a few weeks ago and just swept it up and hoovered. Did I do wrong? Never heard about this before.

WhatFreshHellIsThis · 12/01/2009 19:51

eltham - if you're worried, throw out that hoover bag and change the filters in your vacuum cleaner, but don't throw out the vacuum, it isn't that toxic, it's a very tiny amount of mercury vapour. Definitely not worth losing a vacuum cleaner over!

It doesn't change form if you hoover it up, it's just that the hoover won't filter it out so it will blow it around, but the mercury is the same as it was before, and there isn't any more created.

One lightbulb contains about 5mg of mercury, compare that to the average thermometer which contains 250mg, and you get the idea of how little it is. If you broke one every day, or several at once, it might be a problem, but a one off isn't going to harm you.

FAQtothefuture · 12/01/2009 19:53

oh - never realised that up, don't know how many I've hoovered up over the years............we're still all here (and mostly sane )

Jstrick · 24/05/2013 16:09

Even if you clean them up properly they contaminate your floor, your bedding, your kids toys, your clothing, or anything else they are broken over top of and the surfaces will emit mercury vapour at up to 50 ug/m3 when agitated (chronic levels are .03 ug/m3 in a home) They even contaminate the dust in your home that your kids are going to be exposed to. You will also be exposed to very high levels of mercury vapour sometimes exceeding OSHA limits. Far higher than the vapor from a thermometer or thermostat . Mercury evaporates based on surface area (50 ug/hr per centimetre squared so a thermometer with 500 mg would evapourate about 50 ug per hour) There is very low vapor release from a thermometer break or a battery leak even though there is much more mercury in them. A cfl sprays millions of tiny droplets into the air for a high surface area which evaporates quickly . Giving you an acute dose of mercury. Yoi could eat mercury and only 1/1000 of it would be absorbed. Breath it in and its 80-97% absorption. Very dangerous. They should be illegal for homes. Don't believe me? the following study shows that carpets (even hardwood floors) emit mercury for months even after a breakage is cleaned up "properly". No, not at low levels. Levels that can cause mercury poisoning from chronic exposure when your kids play on that floor. (Search Maine cfl study).

I cannot believe they are not putting warnings on boxes of these things.

OddBoots · 24/05/2013 16:13

They are much more expensive but we've moved over to LED for all our lights, the dimable ones cost a fortune so we've avoided them by having lamps for different lighting.

Jstrick · 24/05/2013 21:43

Ya, I went back to incandescents. Can't afford LED and the light seems weird. Still not sure how companies or government don't have a class action lawsuit against them for no warnings or cleanup instructions on the box. Unless there is a lawsuit? anyone heard of any? I've read some really scary stuff after we broke one, and not from scare monger sites. I thought people were just paranoid, how toxic could a lightbulb be. Looks like I was terribly wrong. Check out this link from a blog a guy (chemist) has that seems to know waaay too much about mercury. www.heracliteanriver.com/?p=246

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