St. Charles Republican: ‘Eco-friendly’ bulbs may pose health, environmental dangers
Filed under: Earth 911 - July 13, 2007
By Danya Hooker and Erin Sauder
St. Charles Republican
Fri Jul 13, 2007
The bulbs are cleaner, last longer and are more efficient than traditional incandescent bulbs. But to make those CFLs burn bright, they rely on a small amount of mercury powder — a potentially toxic substance that can pollute the very environment that the use of fluorescents are supposed to help protect.
“The amount in each tube is minuscule but with 130,000 homes in Kane County, if everyone threw one away a year that adds up to a significant amount in the landfill,” said Gary Mielke, Kane’s recycling coordinator.
Mercury, which can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin, can cause permanent nervous system and kidney damage. Among other things, the substance gave rise to the phrase “mad as a hatter” — made popular by a character in “Alice in Wonderland” — because workers once used mercury in the hat-making process before the practice ended in the early 1940s in the U.S.
Mielke said the compact fluorescent bulbs are accepted during the household hazardous waste program which holds a one-day drop-off at the Kane County fairgrounds every May. This past May, more than 1,000 households participated in the drop-off and 1.33 percent of all the hazardous waste collected was fluorescent material, Mielke said. The bulbs can also be taken to the regional drop-off site in Naperville every weekend.
Maggie Carson, from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, said residents are not restricted from throwing compact fluorescent bulbs in the regular trash.
“Landfills are constructed so they can accommodate a certain amount, however, our general philosophy is that as much as you can avoid putting in landfills is better for all of us,” she said.
Cliff White, St. Charles environmental services superintendent, said the city does not have a CFL recycling program but does use a contractor to recycle city CFLs.
Now, with a proposed national phase out on incandescent bulbs being led by manufacturers and other groups — following similar plans in Australia — local recyclers and waste disposal firms face having to safely dispose of another source of mercury from household waste.
In the early 2000s, Massachusetts worked to eliminate mercury from trash, but the focus of those efforts was largely on products such as thermometers.
If a bulb breaks, that mercury — in powder form — can spread into the air and potentially be inhaled. In Maine earlier this year, a homeowner who broke a bulb over a carpet reported a $2,000 clean up bill after an inspector from that state’s environmental protection office detected mercury traces in an area the size of a dinner plate.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends waiting about 15 minutes after breaking a bulb and then clearing the broken bits and mercury particles into a sealable container. Use a stiff piece of paper or cardboard to sweep up the debris — and avoid using a vacuum cleaner which can kick mercury powder up into the air.
Massachusetts enacted an all-out mercury ban that begins in May 2008. Until then, the state will allow residents to throw away broken compact fluorescent bulbs if they are sealed inside a container before being dumped in the trash.
More information can be found at www.earth911.org.