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Easy as changing a light bulb....Algore style!

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February 26, 2008 03:23 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
Member Since:
February 14, 2007

There's a whole new meaning to the phrase "easy as changing a light bulb" now that's to the sky is falling albore global warming religinuts:

What to do when compact fluorescents crack - The Boston Globe

What to do when compact fluorescents crack

 
http://tools.boston.com/pass-it-on?st... color="#2851a2">Email|Print| Text size – + February 26, 2008

Compact fluorescent lamps contain small amounts of toxic mercury that can vaporize when the bulbs break, creating a potential health risk for infants, young children, and pregnant women. If a lamp does break, follow these cleanup procedures:

  • Keep people and pets away. Open windows, and leave the area for 15 minutes before beginning the cleanup.

     

     

  • Do not use a vacuum cleaner, even on a carpet. This will spread the mercury vapor and dust and potentially contaminate the vacuum.

     

     

  • Wear rubber gloves.

     

     

  • Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass jar with a metal screw top lid and seal like a canning jar.

     

     

  • Next, scoop up the smaller pieces and dust using two stiff pieces of paper such as index cards or playing cards.

     

     

  • Pick up fine particles with duct tape, packing tape, or masking tape, and then use a wet wipe or damp paper towel.

     

     

  • Put all waste into the glass container, including all material used in the cleanup. Remove the container from your home and call your local solid waste district or municipality for disposal instructions.

     

     

  • Continue ventilating the room for several hours.

     

     

  • Wash your hands and face.

     

     

  • As a precaution, consider discarding throw rugs or the area of carpet where the breakage occurred, particularly if the rug is in an area frequented by infants, small children or pregnant women. Otherwise, open windows during the next several times you vacuum the carpet to provide good ventilation.

     

    SOURCES: Maine Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management; Mercury Policy Project

    © Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

    •  

    All because of this:  Mercury leaks found as new bulbs break - The Boston Globe

    Mercury leaks found as new bulbs break

    Energy benefits of fluorescents may outweigh risk

    http://tools.boston.com/pass-it-on?st... color="#2851a2">Email|Print| Text size – + By Beth Daley Globe Staff / February 26, 2008

    Compact fluorescent lamps - those spiral, energy-efficient bulbs popular as a device to combat global warming - can pose a small risk of mercury poisoning to infants, young children, and pregnant women if they break, two reports concluded yesterday.

    But the reports, issued by the state of Maine and the Vermont-based Mercury Policy Project, urged homeowners to keep using compact fluorescents because their energy-saving benefits far outweigh the risk posed by mercury released from a broken lamp.

    They said most danger could be avoided if people exercised common-sense caution, such as not using compact fluorescents in table lamps that could be knocked over by children or pets and properly cleaning up broken bulbs.

    The US Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Massachusetts and Vermont said yesterday that, based on the Maine study, they are revising their recommendations for where to use compact fluorescents in a home and how to clean up when one breaks.

    "Using compact fluorescent bulbs is still the brightest idea out there," said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project, a nonprofit organization that works to eliminate mercury use. "The message is: People should not be afraid but informed and prepared and learn how to dispose of them properly."

    The two reports constitute one of the most comprehensive examinations of the dangers posed by the lights, which use about 1 percent of the amount of mercury found in old thermometers.

    Mercury is needed for the lamps to produce light, and there are no known substitutes. No mercury is emitted when compact fluorescents are burned, but a small amount is vaporized when they break, which can happen if people screw them in holding the glass instead of the base or drop them.

    Mercury is a naturally occurring metal that accumulates in the body and can harm the nervous system of a fetus or young child if ingested in sufficient quantity.

    For the Maine study, researchers shattered 65 compact fluorescents to test air quality and cleanup methods. They found that, in many cases, immediately after the bulb was broken - and sometimes even after a cleanup was attempted - levels of mercury vapor exceeded federal guidelines for chronic exposure by as much as 100 times.

    There is no federal guideline for acute exposure. Some states, including Maine, use the chronic exposure level as their overall standard, while others, such as California, have chosen higher levels for acute exposure. Still, the mercury vapor released by the bulbs in the Maine study exceeded even those higher levels.

    "We found some very high levels [of mercury] even after we tried a number of cleanup techniques," said Mark Hyland, director of Maine's Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management. He said levels were the lowest if the room was well ventilated after breakage.Continued...

    The study recommended that if a compact fluorescent breaks, get children and pets out of the room. Ventilate the room. Never use a vacuum, even on a rug, to clean up a broken compact fluorescent lamps. Instead, use stiff paper such as index cards and tape to pick up pieces, and then wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel. If there are young children or pregnant woman in the house, consider cutting out the piece of carpet where the lamp broke as a precaution. Place the shards and cleanup debris in a glass jar with a screw top and remove the jar from the house.

    Disposal regulations vary from state to state, with some requiring broken compact fluorescent light bulbs, to be disposed of as household hazardous waste. Most states allow intact compact fluorescents to be thrown away, but some - such as Vermont, Minnesota, and California - ban disposal in trash, according to Bender.

    Some stores, such as Ikea, have set out recycling containers for fluorescent bulbs. In Maine, Hyland says, some 200 retailers are participating in compact fluorescent recycling.

    Massachusetts is also ramping up a compact fluorescent recycling program and in May will ban disposal of any intact compact fluorescent lamp in trash. However, broken ones - because their mercury would probably have been vaporized - may be thrown away.

    Sales are skyrocketing for compact fluorescent lamps, which use about 75 percent less energy and last up to 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs, as consumers become more aware of global warming and the long-term cost savings. More than 290 million compact fluorescents carrying the EPA's "Energy Star" label sold last year, nearly double the number in 2006. Compact fluorescents now make up 20 percent of the US light bulb market, and sales are all but guaranteed to grow: A new law requires lights to become much more energy-efficient starting in 2012.

    According to the US Department of Energy, if every household replaced just one light bulb with a compact fluorescent, the United States would save more than $600 million each year in energy costs and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to 800,000 cars.

    But compact fluorescents can contain from 1 to 30 milligrams of mercury, according to the Mercury Policy Project. The nonprofit cited a New Jersey study that estimated that about 2 to 4 tons of the element are released into the environment in the United States each year from compact fluorescents. That number is expected to grow as sales do. In comparison, about 48 tons of mercury is released into the environment by power plants each year, according to federal statistics.

    "People should continue to support CFLs until there are mercury-free alternatives available," said Cindy Luppi of Clean Water Action, a local advocacy group.

    Beth Daley can be reached at bdaley@globe.com.

    © Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.


    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 26, 2008 03:27 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    September 12, 2007
    Watt?  Ok now I see the light.

    "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams
    February 26, 2008 03:28 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 14, 2007
    Well, actually you don't see as much light, SP.  Those new bulbs are pretty dim!!

    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 26, 2008 03:53 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 5, 2007
    Patsy said: Well, actually you don't see as much light, SP.  Those new bulbs are pretty dim!!

    I have these bulbs all over my house where they fit and I don't remember the last time I've had to change one of these bulbs.  They start out dim, but when they warm up they brighten.  We put them in a few years ago to save on our electric bill when CA was having all those phony blackouts.  I didn't know they were so hazardous when broken, though.  So far none of them have caused a problem.



    "Good fences make good neighbors."-Robert Frost "Too BAD!!"-Glenn Beck
    February 26, 2008 04:03 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    May 16, 2007
    Just out of curiosity (and tell me if I'm being too nosy) did you notice a difference in your electric bill?  How much?

    "There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: The bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen." -- Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) "In general, Democrats are the only real reason to vote for Republicans." -- Thomas Sowell FeedFwd: a born again coonass trapped in Austin, TX, USA
    February 26, 2008 04:14 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    Comment updated February 26, 2008 04:16 PM
    FeedFwd said: Just out of curiosity (and tell me if I'm being too nosy) did you notice a difference in your electric bill?  How much?

    Actually, our electric bill did go down quite a bit, but we were doing several things at the same time so I don't know how much the bulbs themselves were responsible.  Mostly I love not having to change the overhead lights in the hallways every month or so.  I think it's been over a year at least, maybe more, since we've done that.  I may be rethinking putting them in my table lamps though.



    "Good fences make good neighbors."-Robert Frost "Too BAD!!"-Glenn Beck
    February 26, 2008 04:14 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 14, 2007
    Someone called on the radio talk show and said when the new bulbs go, they are a fire hazzard.  She removed them from her house when she saw them spark, smoke and actually melted the plastic around the bulb.  Another called and said his wife's employer in Bangor, Maine was giving employees a $5 reward for each light fixture they replaced with a new energy saving bulb.

    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 26, 2008 04:21 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    February 16, 2007

    I heard about this on Rush. 

    Remember during the 70s when the libs went ballastic because the mercury levels in fish were so high?  They threw hissy fits over it.  Now they want to reintroduce mercury into our homes?  Guess it's alright this time because it helps prevent "global warming"...their fad of the year.



    "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer." - Ecclesiastes 4:12
    February 26, 2008 04:22 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 5, 2007
    Patsy said: Someone called on the radio talk show and said when the new bulbs go, they are a fire hazzard.  She removed them from her house when she saw them spark, smoke and actually melted the plastic around the bulb.  Another called and said his wife's employer in Bangor, Maine was giving employees a $5 reward for each light fixture they replaced with a new energy saving bulb.

    Ok, you're scaring me.   Scared 1 



    "Good fences make good neighbors."-Robert Frost "Too BAD!!"-Glenn Beck
    February 26, 2008 04:28 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 14, 2007

    Sorry FW.  I had a few of those bulbs when they first came out.  Didn't much care for them and they didn't save enough on the electric bill to justify their cost.  Frankly, I'm going to BJ's tomorrow and stocking up on the OLD bulbs!  Danged if I'm going to call out the hazmat team to change a stinking light bulb or to clean up a broken one!!  As a caller on radio today pointed out, this is going to bring about a whole new wave of ambulance chasing John Edwards' with a kazillion new lawsuits!  The Breck Girl can add a few extra rooms to his mansion now! 

     Lawyer 







    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 26, 2008 04:35 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    February 9, 2008
    Patsy said:

    Sorry FW.  I had a few of those bulbs when they first came out.  Didn't much care for them and they didn't save enough on the electric bill to justify their cost.  Frankly, I'm going to BJ's tomorrow and stocking up on the OLD bulbs!  Danged if I'm going to call out the hazmat team to change a stinking light bulb or to clean up a broken one!!  As a caller on radio today pointed out, this is going to bring about a whole new wave of ambulance chasing John Edwards' with a kazillion new lawsuits!  The Breck Girl can add a few extra rooms to his mansion now! 

     Lawyer 





     

    Not if we call Al for the change- out/clean-up.  Does anyone have his #?

    1-800-inconvenient-al 



    2 Chronicles 7:14
    February 26, 2008 04:41 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    February 11, 2007

    We had a blackout here today. After about 2 hours I called the electric company. It seem's as though  a grid from Miami got shut down and affected everyone up my way also. Anyway I asked the guy what happened, and he told me, so my reply back to him was, Glad I have a big generator and stocking up on fuel, which I am and have been doing for some time now, and he said to not take this as a conspiracey. Well, I told him I wasn't even thinking about a Conspiracey, but that he had a good point.

    People need to get busy and do as I am doing because what if, just what if and I am not sayiong it is going to happen, but what if GW would declare Martial Law. I'm ready, are you?

    This goes for food, guns, ammo, etc. I talked with JHK the other day. He too is ready and I am sure alot of folks are also on here. Just me trying to make a point is all.

    Peace



    About Me: Keep The 2nd. Ammendment Alive At All Cost!! God gave us this right through man. Florida Constitution Article I, Section 8(a) The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be regulated by law.
    February 26, 2008 04:50 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 14, 2007

    1-800-inconvenient-al 

    Oooh, thanks for the new number.  I still had him down as 1-800-windbag. Phone Shocker 







    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 26, 2008 04:51 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    February 9, 2008

    I am canning on a wood stove, our supplies are ready.  I feel sorry for the folks in the Cities who are like sitting ducks.  Talking about mass starvation, not to mention the heat/cold, need for water etc.  There are too many people out there who don't even have a clue how to wipe their own behinds, and they don't want to learn either.

     



    2 Chronicles 7:14
    February 26, 2008 04:56 PM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 14, 2007
    That's right...no need to learn anything.  Just sit back, get lazier and fatter and let Unka Sam worry about it. 

    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 27, 2008 12:47 AM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    September 12, 2007
    Patsy said: Well, actually you don't see as much light, SP.  Those new bulbs are pretty dim!!

    Well so am I.



    "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams
    February 27, 2008 01:03 AM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    February 14, 2007
     
    I hear ya
    Custom Smiley     Mama said there'd be days like this, SP, but I didn't think it would become a permanent thing!







    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder
    February 27, 2008 06:29 AM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    June 12, 2007

    Global Warming is a very serious religion.

    People donate a lot of money to it.

    Don't you people have any respect?

    Stop all the clowning around.
    February 27, 2008 06:33 AM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
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    September 12, 2007
    Isn't Imus on serious?

    "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams
    February 27, 2008 10:54 AM    View printable version     Link to this comment   
    Member Since:
    February 14, 2007
    No Greg, I don't have any respect for the global warming nuts.  I'd like to be a fly on their wall as they read the news that NOAA has come out with....the ice is back!!!

    "A woman who demands further gun control legislation is like a chicken who roots for Colonel Sanders." Larry Elder

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