energy saving lightbulbs contain mercury

[Visceral Ethereal Carpet]

I only just found this out today...
did anyone else know about this?

source (http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2008/January/07010803.asp)

:mad: i know its great that people are embracing a new environmental ethos and whatnot, but this is kind of a big issue.
i know that there is probably only a tiny bit of mercury in these things, but due to Biomagnification, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomagnification) even a small amount of mercury has a tendency to fuck shit up (http://www.greenfacts.org/en/mercury/l-3/mercury-3.htm).

with the phasing out of incandescent bulbs, there will be a lot more fluorescent bulbs hitting our shelves, and therefore a lot more mercury hitting our landfills and (possibly) our ecosystems.

there are recycling programs already established specifically for mercury, but as most of us know deep down, recycling isn't really that effective(feel free to call me out on this if you disagree ;) ).

so what do you guys think, which is a better option:

-phasing out regular lightbulbs to make way for energy efficient ones, thereby reducing carbon emissions a tiny amount and intruducing more mercury into the waste system; or:

- avoiding fluorescent bulbs, keeping on emitting the resulting (tiny amount of) greenhouse gasses caused by them, and avoid having to deal with a whole lot more mercury.


also, another effect of mercury is that it can supposedly send you crazy. (http://www.seagrant.uconn.edu/HATTER.HTML)





so what does everyone think?

[Prometheus]

It all depends on what the mercury is bonded to. Many mercury containing molecules are quite stable, and aren't prone to causing biological problems. There's a reason amalgam fillings are still in common use. They're safe, despite the mercury.

I wouldn't worry too much about the fluorescents being a long term problem anyway. People are already moving on to LEDs.

[The Methematician]

Lol, and your source are way out of date. Today, the term "energy saving light" are made up of LEDs, instead of miniature phosphor tubes.

[Prometheus]

My brother's an electrician, so I'm always hearing about the LED instilations he's putting in at places like Borders or Bed Bath and Beyond. Mainly it's him bitching about how the people that design the layouts always want lights in different positions, or fewer brighter lights, or more dimmer lights, or other stuff that's a pain in the ass to do.

Point being, it's economicaly viable to do that. It takes about 12-18 months for the cost of saved electricity to cover the cost of the changeover.

[The Methematician]

Key words : energy saving, light bulb.

So, LEDs are still the leading "energy-saving-light" compared to mini-phosphor-tube.

Of course it's costs more, but we are not talking about "money-saving-light-bulb" here. It's ENERGY.