Fluorescent Lighting and THE MERCURY PROBLEM

I have long not made it a secret that I favor fluorescent lighting over incandescent because of energy savings. I also favor LED lighting but that's another story.

I have taken some heat for my position from some who are protective of their rights to consume forever as they see fit without regard for the rest of humanity or the effect on our environment.

Here is an exchange with "Anonymous":

Anonymous said...

Fluorescent light is horrible and the tubes contain mercury.
There are better ways to conserve than forcing fluorescents on everyone.
There needs to be some "quality of life".
Maybe we should go back to paper and turn off all these computers?


Peggy Deras, CKD, CID said...

C'mon "Anonymous", haven't you heard Al Gore?

1. Fluorescents save energy compared to your precious incandescents. A LOT of energy.
2. They last a lot longer too.
3. You can spend a few more bucks and buy high CRI fluorescents and look good too!
4. Mercury can be mitigated if the spent lamps are properly disposed of.
5. Get with the program. We all are in this together.

Peggy

Anonymous said...

Peggy, tell you what… if you want to push legislation, put a limit/tax on kWh used and let people use the kW any way they choose.

How much power does it take to support this website?

If the government tells me I can’t choose incandescent lights maybe they should tell you to stop posting & blogging.

And by the way, the majority of people will NOT dispose of CFLs properly, they will just chuck‘em in the trash. Forward thinkers know this, and they know the real consequence of mercury contamination. The proposed ban in USA will be reversed…. wait and see.

Well, now I have some additional ammunition in hand to quell the worries of people like Anonymous: The article is "MERCURY AND THE COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMP" and appears in the Illuminate supplement to October 2008's Architectural Products magazine.

Apparently, even taking into account that NOBODY ever recycles their spent fluorescent bulbs/lamps, fluorescents put less mercury into the environment than the incandescents they replace because the additional burned coal needed to light the incandescents adds substantially more mercury to the environment.

Not only that, but the mercury released by burning coal is airborne methyl mercury. Airborne mercury enters the body through the lungs and is attributed to a wide range of health issues and contamination of water and fish.

The mercury in fluorescents is primarily elemental mercury, a health risk if treated improperly (ie. broken), but not inherently likely to become airborne unless vacuumed.

Also most (86-89%) of the mercury in a CFL is bound to the lamp glass itself and not released if broken.

So, now that we have several degrees more safety from mercury poisoning by using fluorescents, AND substantial energy savings, AND lots of bulb/lamp shapes and sizes, AND dimmable, AND a good color range and CRI; maybe, just maybe, people like Anonymous will try a few fluorescents in their own homes and find out they aren't so bad after all.

Give 'em a twist!

Peggy