Yesterday, while changing a burnt out tube in the kitchen, I happened to drop and shatter one of the fluorescent bulbs. Remembering the “rules” from my childhood, I held my breath and ran out into the living room. But then I felt a little silly. Are the contents of those fluorescent tubes really that toxic, or is this just a myth? If they are that toxic, why aren’t they then made of stronger material than really thin glass?
Is this a common myth? I’ve never heard of the claim.
I’ve not heard this either. I’ve had several instances of breaking flourescent tubes in my lifetime,and am still around to tell about it. My WAG is that even if there are some “toxic” gases in the tubes the dissapation into the air as the tube breaks would dilute it to the point of harmlessness.
The most toxic element within a flourescent bulb is mercury, but even then the risk posed by a single broken tube is pretty low. Here’s a rundown, thought the authors are more concered with the long-term pollution effects of discarding spent tubes rather than the risk of broken tubes to individuals.
As a kid I remeber being told to hold my breath and get away if the custodian broke a tube in the classroom.
We then opened the windows to air the room out.
If I’m remembering correctly flourescent bulbs contain mercury vapor which emits ultra violet light. There is a flourescent material coated on the inside of the glass tube that is excited by the UV and emits visible light.
The mercury vapor is toxic but is present in such a small amount that you would probably have to break a bulb a day in a closet to be harmful. The coating is also toxic so you need to be careful not to cut yourself on the shards when cleaning them up. Again, this wouldn’t likely be fatal but might result in a wound that is slow to heal.
Just another redundant post.
These bulbs are illegal to dispose of in general trash in most areas. They must be treated as poisons, not only because of the mercury, but also the phosphors which can get into the water supply running off a dumpsite.
So if one was down at the local Enormous Home Impovement store, where they have these bulbs by the truckload in exposed boxes, and say perhaps accidentally rammed ones cart into the display, would that then present a health hazard?
The version I heard as a kid was that if you cut yourself on the glass it would never stop bleeding.
Peace,
mangeorge
Is that true? My understanding is that for businesses and commercial sites, this would be the case, but individual homeowners are allowed to include fluorescent bulbs in their everyday trash. I’m not encouraging people to follow environmentally harmful practices, but I think the density of residential flurorescent installations is too low for efficient collection and disposal, and thus regular-trash throwaways are allowed. My city, for instance, doesn’t include fluorescent bulbs in its household hazardous waste program, and the nearest lamp recycling center is about 60 miles away. I don’t exactly feel great about dumping used tubes in the garbage, but that has to be balanced against burning up gasoline and emitting automotive exhaust* to make a special 120-mile round trip just to dispose one bulb at a specialized facility.
- I drive a four cylinder car, but still, it’s not zero emissions.
Early fluorescent lamps contained beryllium dust, and posed a serious poison issue. Modern lamps use safer chemicals, so the problem just doesn’t exist anymore. I doubt many of these old lamps are in use, but you should be able to check with the manufacturer, if printed on the bulb.
I work in the field of recycling legislation. Many jurisdictions have banned fluorescent lamps from landfills because of the mercury content in their internal switches. There are no other concerns regarding their toxicity. Other jurisdictions require labeling on lamps warning consumers of the mercury and providing disposal information. (Usually available on the manufacturer’s website). If your area doesn’t have such regulations, just wait - it will. This is really catching on around the country, in part because it has recently been determined that 43% of America’s lakes and rivers are so contaminated with mercury that fish and seafood taken from them is considered dangerous to children and pregnant women in even small amounts, and it’s recommended that the rest of us eat as little as possible.
A bit off topic… but I dropped a normal globe about 2 metres (6 ft) off the ground straight onto cement… and it didn’t break, not the glass or filament! I had no idea they made them so tough. I’m thinking of changing all the lightbulbs in my house to flourescent, how much better would that be, really?