Energy saving light bulbs - WARNING

jobbingmusician

I've just heard about this today - I had no idea! Why on earth don't they put a warning on the box?

Official advice from the Department of the Environment states that if a low-energy bulb is smashed, the room needs to be vacated for at least 15 minutes.
A vacuum cleaner should not be used to clear up the debris, and care should be taken not to inhale the dust.
Instead, rubber gloves should be used, and the broken bulb put into a sealed plastic bag - which should be taken to the local council for disposal.



This is from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7172662.stm, so not from a scare-mongering site, by the way....

vax2002

Yes.. letting the Green bike riding Yogut hat knitting soothe sayers force thier will upon us is far more important than the health of people...

Farway

From same bbc site

"But a toxicologist has played down the risks, saying several bulbs would have to be smashed at once to pose a danger."

The article, from 2008, is way over the top IMO, just covering their @rses really without regard to common sense, bit like kids having to wear safety glasses to play conkers

JLL

These energy saving bulbs are a pain in the a**e. If we turn the light on in our living room our cable turns over dozens of channels. The last time we had an engineer out he said it happens loads.

thegirlintheattic

Agree with Farway. Mercury bioaccumulates and the risk increases the higher the cumulative dose. So one broken bulb would be unlikely to have an significant impact on your health over your lifetime, if you smash several light bulbs a year over your lifetime - your risk is higher, and if you broke many at the same time you may be at risk of acute poisoning and that high amount of Hg would have a impact on your lifetime risk. The only way I can see smashing the odd lightbulb as being an issue is if you are exposed to Hg from several other sources (above normal exposure from air etc.).

Ben84

I remember not so long ago in the old teaching lab where we had glass bottles of the stuff and used it for various things on the bench, just pouring it out. The density is incredible, I believe 100 mL weighed more than a Kg. The stuff is so dense, if you have a large enough quantity in a container you can can sit on the surface of it, as I remember the man doing in the national geographic photo. Anyway, everyone used to think mercury was fun to play with and harmless. The consequence of this is that a huge number of people (myself included) have been exposed to vastly more mercury than you would from breaking a few light bulbs. Anyone who has had an amalgam filling, anyone who worked in a lab or was a student in one some years ago, anyone who has broken a thermometer and anyone who has used emulsion paint before the early 1990s, so I would guess just about everyone has been exposed to greatly more than you'll find in a light bulb. Mercury poisoning was and still remains however very rare - even for the students in the 1970s who used to roll balls of it around in their hands! So, I think you'd get away with the occasional light bulb breaking accident, they only contain a tiny ball that would sit on the tip of a ball point pen.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

It would be nice to of had a health warning on the box.
When I went round the house replacing all my bulbs two broke while I was trying to fit them.
Actually I'm pleased I did'nt know,saved me from panicking :rotfl:.

One thing though,if they are energy saving why have they not cost me any less in units of electricity used :mad:.
Watched carefully and they definately have not saved me money.

thegirlintheattic

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

It would be nice to of had a health warning on the box.
When I went round the house replacing all my bulbs two broke while I was trying to fit them.
Actually I'm pleased I did'nt know,saved me from panicking :rotfl:.

One thing though,if they are energy saving why have they not cost me any less in units of electricity used :mad:.
Watched carefully and they definately have not saved me money.

Because they are a massive con! We've not noticed any saving (although we have so many electricals it's hard to tell) but they are also so dim I can hardly see to read or do my make-up.

Ben84

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

It would be nice to of had a health warning on the box.
When I went round the house replacing all my bulbs two broke while I was trying to fit them.
Actually I'm pleased I did'nt know,saved me from panicking :rotfl:.

One thing though,if they are energy saving why have they not cost me any less in units of electricity used :mad:.
Watched carefully and they definately have not saved me money.

The stick and spiral type bulbs shouldn't be put in to or removed from the fixture by holding the glass tube, it's much more likely to crack them this way. After discovering this problem myself, I now always hold them by the base when fitting or removing them and there has been no problem since.

As for costs, they are well tested to prove they use less electric per unit of light emitted. A 60w bulb replaced with a 12w bulb (roughly same brightness) will use 48w less per hour. It adds up over a year to a few pound per regularly used fixture, but if your electric bill includes big energy consuming appliances like electric fires, water heater/shower or cooker then the total difference may not be that noticeable from the typical variation in your consumption. You'd only have to cook a few extra times in a month with an electric cooker to consume the same as the bulbs are saving.

Blackpool_Saver

I remember playing with mercury at school, the teacher had us pass it from person to person and play with it.....

Penelope_Penguin

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

.... but they are also so dim I can hardly see to read or do my make-up.

Modern energy saving bulbs are much brighter than the original ones We have the low energy bulbs almost exclusively now, and they're perfectly bright to read by - I have 2 side lights on just now, and can type and read with no problem :T