Last year about 300 million compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) were sold in the U.S., thanks to people being more concerned about global warming. The only bad thing about CFLs is that they contain small amounts of mercury in them, so when they are thrown away and broken the toxic vapors from the mercury can be inhaled by humans. And that can be a health risk.
Brown University Develops Material for CFLs
Brown University Develops Material for CFLs
(via www.greenstudentu.com)
Submitted by Trish1980 on Tue, 2008-07-01 13:34. | Tags: design | energy | global warming | green products | health
AUGH! Mercury! AUGH! PANIC!
gimmeabreak. Yeah, I don't want my kid exposed to mercury, but lets dial it down a notch. Mercury is toxic and we should avoid tossing CFLs into the trash, but the are a minuscule threat. The amounts are fractional compared to other sources and other toxins. This is yet another example of a disproportionate concern by a bunch of people that want to turn mercury into the biggest threat ever. I used to play with the stuff as a kid. A REALLY bad idea, but so was a lot of things we did over 40 years ago. I'm a lot more worried about the DDT that was sprayed everywhere than the lead and mercury I was exposed to. And you should be more concerned about the real threats and not this stuff.