Re: Re: Great - Electric Co's pushing Mercury on us

September 30, 2008

I, too, am concerned about these bulbs. Before our daughter was diagnosed, my

husband replaced all the lights in the house with these. But, they have all

been removed now due to the mercury in them. My question is...I know that if

the bulb breaks, the mercury is released and highly toxic, but does the bulb

emit mercury from the heat of the bulb when it is on? We have some air

purifiers that have UV lamps that apparently also contain mercury. So, I have

always wondered if mercury is emitted just from the lamps/lights being on?

THANKS!

From: Jackie Lombardo <ucanmailjackie@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: Great - Electric Co's pushing Mercury on us

Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2008, 2:34 PM

Hi ,

Who is your power company?

Jackie

>

> Just wanted to vent. My electric bill this month included a great

> advertising write up and marketing scheme for the CFL lobby. Not

only

> did they tell me how wonderful these new bulbs are, they included a

$5

> off coupon for a 6 pack of them at my local stores. :-( Nowhere in

the

> mailing did it mention the toxicity of these bulbs, mercury or proper

> disposal, just how great they will be. Frustration abounds. . . .

>

> P.

>

September 30, 2008

AEP (American Electric Power)

Jackie Lombardo wrote:

>

> Hi ,

>

> Who is your power company?

>

> Jackie

>

> >

> > Just wanted to vent. My electric bill this month included a great

> > advertising write up and marketing scheme for the CFL lobby. Not

> only

> > did they tell me how wonderful these new bulbs are, they included a

> $5

> > off coupon for a 6 pack of them at my local stores. :-( Nowhere in

> the

> > mailing did it mention the toxicity of these bulbs, mercury or proper

> > disposal, just how great they will be. Frustration abounds. . . .

> >

> > P.

> >

>

September 30, 2008

Very well put; yes we do need to address all sources of mercury.

Unfortunately, the people pushing CFLs are totally ignoring the imminent

danger to households. I've never met a person who didn't occasionally

break a bulb. And, these things are known to burst on their own too.

As for using incandescents, right now they are the safest choice readily

available.

What we did to reduce consumption was choose lower wattages, turn them

off when not in use, paint the house bright colors to reflect light, and

put in plenty of windows. Doing this reduces our monthly bill quite

drastically. We also don't use electric appliances when possible, and

lower consumption on what we do use. No one is allowed to stand in the

refrigerator door to check out the leftovers. In and and, and get what

you need. We also use a clothes line for clothes, and any complaints

get a " so what " from me . . . mom. :-) There are many ways to reduce

consumption without introducing mercury into the house and environment.

It isn't just the litterbug who tosses CFLs in the trash, it is the

uninformed consumer who gets $5 off coupons in the mail with no mention

of the danger or disposal procedure. If you are an hour from any major

metro, and have a hard enough time finding someone to pick up your

trash, the last thing you are going to go in search of is a recycler for

CFL IF you happen to know you should.

If they would get a move on the LEDs that would help immensely. As long

as people are buying the CFLs though, I suspect the progress on LED will

be slow.

P.

happietrout wrote:

>

> No, the bulbs don't radiate mercury when in use. The bulbs emit light

> and a small amount of heat. The mercury is in the powder, which is

> sealed inside the glass.

>

> Using compact-fluorescents brings greater immediate risk to your home

> in the event a bulb is broken, but using regular incandescents brings

> not risk, but guaranteed contamination to the very air we breathe. The

> EPA estimates the U.S. is responsible for the release of 104 metric

> tons of mercury emissions each year. Most of these emissions come from

> coal-fired electrical power plants. Mercury released into the air is

> the main way that mercury gets into water and bio-accumulates in fish.

> A coal-fired power plant will emit 13.6 milligrams of mercury to

> produce the electricity required to use an incandescent light bulb,

> compared to 3.3 milligrams for a comparable CFL.

>

> When you think about it where our kids spend most of their time,

> that's where fluorescent bulbs are used the most: in school. What we

> need to do, is make sure the mercury used in lighting stays in a

> closed loop system. Some companies have pledged to use only 100%

> recycled mercury. We just need to stop that ignorant lazy jerk who

> tosses bulbs in the garbage. But that's probably the same lazy jerk

> who tosses fast food bags out his car window.

>

> I encourage everyone to eliminate risk from their immediate homes, but

> we cannot ignore the bigger picture. Incandescents are not a good choice.

>

> I have a LED light for camping, and don't mind it. Perhaps we

> should be pushing for better LED home lighting.

>

> Interesting article:

> http://tinyurl.com/6dsatb <http://tinyurl.com/6dsatb>

>

> I'm not pro-fluorescent, but I am anti-mercury. I think we need to

> continue investigating new options.

>

> > >

> > > Just wanted to vent. My electric bill this month included a great

> > > advertising write up and marketing scheme for the CFL lobby. Not

> > only

> > > did they tell me how wonderful these new bulbs are, they included a

> > $5

> > > off coupon for a 6 pack of them at my local stores. :-( Nowhere in

> > the

> > > mailing did it mention the toxicity of these bulbs, mercury or proper

> > > disposal, just how great they will be. Frustration abounds. . . .

> > >

> > > P.

> > >

> >

September 30, 2008

I seem to recall that I read or heard that CFLs will be mandatory (or ONLY

option available) in the near future!!! This is scary...

>

> No, the bulbs don't radiate mercury when in use. The bulbs emit light

> and a small amount of heat. The mercury is in the powder, which is

> sealed inside the glass.

>

> Using compact-fluorescent s brings greater immediate risk to your home