The Risks Of Saving The Planet

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grober

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Thought I would post this for members of the forum who have small children in particular [ anecdotal evidence suggests they have been known to crawl about on the floor]. I have used extracts from this BBC article which can be seen here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7172662.stm the remarks in[--] are mine


Disposing of LOW ENERGY bulbs safely

The Environment Agency has called for more information to be made available on the health and environmental risks posed by low-energy light bulbs which contain a small amount of MERCURY. [YES that' s MERCURY as in "mad as a hatter"]. It says because the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, more information about safe recycling is needed. It also wants health warnings printed on packaging and information on how to clear up smashed bulbs in the home.
Toxic substance
Environmental scientist Dr David Spurgeon said: "Because these light bulbs contain small amounts of mercury they could cause a problem if they are disposed of in a normal waste-bin. "It is possible that the mercury they contain could be released either into the air or from land-fill when they are released into the wider environment. That's a concern, because mercury is a well known toxic substance." Dr David Ray, toxicologist
Official advice from the Department of the Environment states that if a low-energy bulb is smashed, the room needs to be vacated for at least 15 minutes.----A vacuum cleaner should not be used to clear up the debris, and care should be taken not to inhale the dust.
Instead, rubber gloves should be used, and the broken bulb put into a sealed plastic bag - which should be taken to the local council for disposal.
Unbroken used bulbs can be taken back to the retailer if the owner is a member of the Distributor Takeback Scheme. Otherwise, many local waste disposal sites now have the facilities to safely collect and dispose of old bulbs.However, this advice is not printed on the packaging that low-energy bulbs are sold in. Toxicologist Dr David Ray, from the University of Nottingham, said about 6-8mg of mercury was present in a typical low-energy bulb, which he described as a "pretty small amount". [relative to what???]
"Mercury accumulates in the body - especially the brain," he said. "The biggest danger is repeated exposure - a one off exposure is not as potentially dangerous compared to working in a light bulb factory."If you smash one bulb then that is not too much of a hazard. However, if you broke five bulbs in a small unventilated room then you might be in short term danger."
Information campaign
Adrian Harding of the Environment Agency said: "More information does need to be made available by retailers, local authorities and the government to alert people to the best way of dealing with these products when they become waste.
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."

The lighting industry and the government say the risk of mercury pollution posed by low-energy bulbs is minimal.[ they are obviously not familiar with the concept of zero exposure levels ]

Kevin Verdun of the Lighting Association said: "Fluorescent strips, like the ones used in garages and kitchens, also contain mercury and have been used for many years without poisoning anyone." [he's obviously measured the mercury plasma levels of the entire population-yeah right]
But he said that warnings on how to safely dispose of smashed bulbs "might" be put on packaging in future, [ nice of him] if the government and the public demanded it.
This month shops in the UK will begin the process of phasing out traditional tungsten bulbs as part of a government plan to completely replace them by 2011.[ so you have no choice]Ministers hope that using the more environmentally-friendly bulbs will save at least save 5m tonnes-worth of carbon dioxide emissions every year.
 
You'd have to eat a thousand bulbs for there to be any effect as the volumes are so small.

As a child in school I clearly remember being allowed to play with mercury. Dipping our hands in and out of open containers of the stuff and generally mucking around with it, amazed with the properties of the substance - great fun.. Worse still, every year in our supper fete, one of the 'stalls' was a competition who could blow mercury the highest up a tube. The secret was to get a rhythm by sucking, then blowing, sucking then blowing.... hours of fun :eek: and how many of us managed to break a mercury thermometer in our mouths.

Scaremongery I tell ya.
 
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The concept of zero exposure if you are unfamiliar with it is that the best approach to a proven toxin is to avoid it completely if at all possible. Mercury has a long historical record as a neurotoxin thats surely not in dispute. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning
http://www.uniklinik-freiburg.de/iuk/live/forschung/publikationen/Mutter_Autism_NEL.pdf
My reason for posting was to inform people of a potential personal risk they can minimise by taking a few simple precautions when clearing up a broken bulb. I was particularly concerned about young children where the developing mammalian brain is more susceptible to damage. Mercury is a cumulative poison -you don't excrete it once its in your body. So for a youngster starting out life now with a future of increased exposure to "broken bulb-fluorescent tube breakages" ahead of them it seems prudent to minimise their exposure. These bulbs which we will all have to use in the near future, should have proper clean up and disposal instructions printed on their retail containers. I'm a great believer in letting know people of a potential risk to their health. Then they personally can make an informed decision about any risk involved. They may feel as you do that its not worth worrying about but at least they are aware of the situation. Sorry but I don't see that as "scaremongering" as you put it.
 
This site claims there are quite a few sources of mercury.

http://www.mercuryexposure.org/index.php?page_id=29

I think you are oveplaying the risks. Mercury has been used in many industrial processes at high levels without direc poisening.

Mercury rectifiers were commonpace in high power applications before there were semiconductors available for this.
The Electricians would literally kick start them on cold days due to contraction of the mercury stopping the arc.

Yes I know the waste contaminates the land and watercourses.
 
You'd have to eat a thousand bulbs for there to be any effect as the volumes are so small.

As a child in school I clearly remember being allowed to play with mercury. Dipping our hands in and out of open containers of the stuff and generally mucking around with it, amazed with the properties of the substance - great fun.. Worse still, every year in our supper fete, one of the 'stalls' was a competition who could blow mercury the highest up a tube. The secret was to get a rhythm by sucking, then blowing, sucking then blowing.... hours of fun :eek: and how many of us managed to break a mercury thermometer in our mouths.

Scaremongery I tell ya.
Obviously you were too busy playing with the mercury to be listening to the teacher. Liquid mercury is not absorbed by us humans it's vapour or mercury that has got into the food chain (fish being the classic example - Japan I seem to remember) that you need to watch out for.

Having said that it does make you nutty so perhaps... [ducks and runs for cover]
 
Worse still, every year in our supper fete, one of the 'stalls' was a competition who could blow mercury the highest up a tube.
We had a physics lesson about measuring lung pressure with a mercury manometer. I was picked as the subject, "Blow as hard as you can" the teacher said. I did, and emptied all the mercury out over the bench and floor. That's how we found out I had an unusually high lung pressure :D

In metalwork I later built a Stuart 10V double-acting steam engine from a set of castings. The teacher said to me "you'll be needing the compressor and airline to set up the valve timing". Nope, I'd already done it by attaching a tube to the steam inlet on the engine and blowing :eek:
 
Any good with a trombone Bill.?
 

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