Hazmat Clean-up Needed! - Truckers' Trucking Forum | Message Board

RBPC · **^ Top** #1 04.04.2008

You know those wonderfully energy efficient light bulbs... well I just broke one today and thought I'd better look to see what I needed to do to clean it up. The first web page I went to (which looks like it has an advertisement with jam's girlfriend on it - or maybe it's just the t-shirt)made me wonder WHY DO I OWN THESE DA*N THINGS!? [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

I decided to go to an epa site orhttp://www.energystar.gov/ , hoping to find that I didn't have to evacuate the room or pay someone a large sum to clean it up. WHEW! It looks as if I'll survive.

Save the world, turn out a light, just be careful doing it!

dang if it ain't gonna kill us trying!!!

Steps to clean up broken cfl:

Before Clean-up: Ventilate the Room

Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

<LI value=4>Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

See ya! I've got work to do!

Skateboardr'swife · **^ Top** #2 04.04.2008

Good post

Article was good also, gut reaction is to get a broom and sweep it up. I bought a whole bunch and need to go look at boxes!

Cybergal · **^ Top** #3 04.04.2008

GREAT post ... Thanks!

t_wilson0321 · **^ Top** #4 04.04.2008

Well, I read the article in the link. This is another prime example of our government needing to pull their collective heads out of their butts. Forcing people to buy something by taking away any and all alternatives. Sounds communist to me. And conveniently neglecting to let us know about the dangerous mercury, and how to dispose of it. The damn things pose a serious health risk, and yet we're supposed to use them? Well, I've currently got four in my living room in the ceiling fan/light and two in the kitchen. However, now I just might go back to the store and get some good old fashioned Thomas Edison light bulbs. At least there won't be any risk of mercury for my two year old, my dog, or my cat.

ratchetjaw · **^ Top** #5 04.05.2008

I tried those in the utility room and the damned things kept blowing out.

This was a couple of years ago and nobody said anything about being hazardous, just "save energy."
Ok, fine, fine... didn't know the ones that broke were dangerous and didn't know that they weren't supposed to be tossed in the trash.

Maybe that mercury is the cause of my mental lapses?

t_wilson0321 · **^ Top** #6 04.05.2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by ratchetjaw

I tried those in the utility room and the damned things kept blowing out.

This was a couple of years ago and nobody said anything about being hazardous, just "save energy."
Ok, fine, fine... didn't know the ones that broke were dangerous and didn't know that they weren't supposed to be tossed in the trash.

Maybe that mercury is the cause of my mental lapses?

Na. That's just the stand up/sit down button. You know, you stand up to do something and forget what. So you sit down trying to remember. Switch gets faulty. It's designed to start having connection problems when you either A. reach the age of 30 or B. have children. Whichever comes first.

Now what was it I was getting up to do?

footz · **^ Top** #7 04.05.2008

Regular straight fluorescents like you've probably been using
in your kitchen or shop for years have the same thing.

-f

ratchetjaw · **^ Top** #8 04.06.2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by t_wilson0321

Na. That's just the stand up/sit down button. You know, you stand up to do something and forget what. So you sit down trying to remember. Switch gets faulty. It's designed to start having connection problems when you either A. reach the age of 30 or B. have children. Whichever comes first.

Now what was it I was getting up to do?

For sure!

Ron-MARS Trucking · **^ Top** #9 04.06.2008

The history behind the CFL's (Compact Florescent Lamps)

(...)

Quote:

The parent to the modern compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) was invented in the late 1890s by [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . The Cooper Hewitt lamps were used for photographic studios and industries. [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , and [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. then patented a high pressure vapor lamp in 1927. [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. later teamed with [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. to create a practical fluorescent lamp, sold in 1938 and patented in 1941. The modern CFL was invented by [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , an engineer with [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , in response to the [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . While it met its design goals, it would have cost GE about 25 million USD to build new factories to produce them and the invention was shelved. The design was eventually leaked out and copied by others.

(...)[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

Cleanup of broken bulbs

(...)

Quote:

Broken CFL bulbs release mercury vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health. The EPA has a page dedicated to clean-up of broken CFL Bulbs. Although mercury in these bulbs is a health hazard, special handling upon breakage is currently not printed on the packaging of household CFL bulbs in many countries. It is important to note that the amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure.

(...)
[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

(Emphasis mine)

Energy savings

(...)

Quote:

Since CFLs use less power to supply the same amount of light as an incandescent lamp of the same lumen rating, they can be used to decrease energy consumption at the location in which they are used. In countries where electricity is largely produced from burning [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , the savings reduces emissions of [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. and other pollutants; in other countries the reduction may help reduce negative impacts from [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , or other sources; see [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. for details.
While CFLs require more energy in manufacturing than incandescent lamps, this is said to be offset by the fact that they last longer and use less energy during their lifespan.

Mercury use of compact fluorescent lamp vs. incandescent lamp if powered by electricity generated completely from [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. .

However there is no standard way to calculate the amount of energy 'embodied' in a device (e.g. Should one include the energy consumption/transport of workers in the factory?), and currently there is little in the way of trustworthy evidence to demonstrate the differences between the manufacturing, delivery, and retailing consumption of energy in the different forms of lighting.
A comparison of energy consumption and carbon dioxide production, also needs to specify whether this is in hot, medium or cold climates. The 'inefficiencies' of incandescent lightbulbs in cold countries are virtually zero, since the generated heat offsets some of the need for central heating.

(...)

Mercury emissions

Quote:

CFLs, like all [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. (e.g., long tubular lamps common in offices and kitchens), contain small amounts of [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. and it is a concern for [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. and [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. where the mercury from lamps is released and contributes to air and water [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. . In the USA, lighting manufacturer members of the [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. (NEMA) have made a voluntary commitment to cap the amount of mercury used in CFLs:

Under the voluntary commitment, effective [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. , NEMA members will cap the total mercury content in CFLs of less than 25 watts at 5 milligrams (mg) per unit. The total mercury content of CFLs that use 25 to 40 watts of electricity will be capped at 6 mg per unit.

A June 2007 article calculated that the overall mercury emission by CFLs is less than the mercury released into the atmosphere by coal-fired power generation for series of equivalent incandescent lamps over the same period. Of course, not all electricity is coal-fire generated, but the mercury from spent CFLs in landfills is not released into air if the bulbs are transported in a way so that they don't break, and with proper disposal, will not be released into the subsurface or groundwater in the foreseeable future. Yet at the moment it is calculated that only 3% of CFL bulbs are properly disposed of or recycled. It is important to note that this comparison also only refers to the statistics of one CFL bulb surviving for a full 5 years of use. For example: If the CFL were to break or burn out a total of 3 times in that 5 year period there would be an additional 12mg of mercury used.
Although they make up only 19% of power generation in Canada, [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. are "the largest uncontrolled industrial source of mercury emissions in Canada".[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (when coal power is used) the mercury released from powering an incandescent lamp for five years exceeds the total of (a) the mercury released by powering a comparably luminous CFL for the same period and (b) the mercury contained in the lamp. It should be noted, however, that the "EPA is implementing policies to reduce airborne mercury emissions. Under regulations issued in 2005, coal-fired power plants will need to reduce their emissions by 70% by 2018." In places like Canada where 81% of power generation is from sources other than coal fired plants, the use of these bulbs effectively increases the net amount of mercury potentially available to the environment, especially if they are not disposed of in an environmentally conscious manner.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

I don't care for CFL's as IMHO they don't perform as well as promised. In addition, most CFL's are manufactured by China. China's product safety record leaves much to be desired. China's product standard and its SPC (Statistical Process Control) practices are virtually missing or lacking the level of the rest of the modern world.

I apologize for the long post and I hope you all glean some useful information; and that your eyes haven't glazed over by now

ratchetjaw · **^ Top** #10 04.06.2008

Eyes not glazed, yet! Thanks for the information.

It's the devil or the deep blue sea: either use a lot of energy or contribute to pollution.... *sigh*

I don't know anything about recycling mercury. Seems it should be possible to do something with those bulbs.

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