Light bulb insanity

[Ralph Sprang]

Ralph, I don't have the time to go find the numbers, but your conclusion that a can of tuna has more mercury than a cfl doesn't sound right.

The numbers cited are not my conclusion, but published data. To save you the time and since I had already looked up all the data,
1 ppm FDA limit on mercury in tuna (or 1 ug/g)
355 g in a 12 ounce can ==> 355 ug in a 12 ounce can, which is 0.355 mg, which I quantized to 0.5 mg

As I said, it depends on what numbers you like or accept, but the mercury in a CFL reportedly ranges from 0.5 mg (about the same as a can of tuna) to 4 mg or so.


Other common mercury exposures:
Watch battery -- up to 25 milligrams Thermometer -- up to 2 grams
Tilt thermostat -- up to 3 grams

Comparison in mercury between CFLs and incandescents

[Ralph Sprang]

Just to throw more fat on the fire,

I'm looking at a Ecosmart CFL and on the side it has:

120V 60Hz 14W 0.230A

The problem is that 0.23 amps at 120 volts is 27.6 watts.

The current draw cited is a limit, actual is usually less. In addition, recall that power factor reduces real power (watts), which is a measure of power actually delivered to the load. So, if we assume the numbers cited are actual current draw and power consumption, then pf=P/S=14/27.6=0.51, a little low but not too far off from what others report.

[Ralph Sprang]

So, assuming you have 1 pound of fish (455 grams) - the 0.25ppm translates into .00011 grams = .11 mg of mercury per pound of fish. So you'd have to eat 30 to 50 pounds of fish to equal eating just 1 CFL lightbulb.

The challenge is that the numbers are all over the place for the actual level of mercury in fish. FDA limits it to 1 ug/g and regularly cites commercial vendors who exceed that limit. Other claim the lower numbers previously cited. So you could expect to find from 0 to 13.6 mg in 30 lbs of fish.

Of course, the exposure to mercury from eating ANY fish is higher than that from normal use of a CFL - the mercury in a CFL is contained within the bulb and stays there, as long as the bulb is not broken. If the bulb breaks, since the mercury is in vapor form it rapidly dissipates, and it would be very difficult to inhale more than about 10% of the mercury vapor without making special effort to do so, so let's say you could potentially inhale 0.4 mg of mercury, using the highest numbers cited in this thread. Using the lowest numbers cited in this thread, that's the equivalent of eating 56 ounces of tuna, or, using the FDA limit, 14 ounces.

So, the bottom line is that one is very unlikely to receive more mercury exposure from CFLs than from eating fish. As a practical matter, it just doesn't matter - unless you are eating LOTS of mercury laden fish or are constantly breaking CFL bulbs, it will have essentially no impact on your health or life.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

So, the bottom line is that one is very unlikely to receive more mercury exposure from CFLs than from eating fish. As a practical matter, it just doesn't matter - unless you are eating LOTS of mercury laden fish or are constantly breaking CFL bulbs, it will have essentially no impact on your health or life.

Ralph, of the 2 billion cfls produced each year, most will end up in land fills. I think normal use better go from the beginning to the end of the bulb, not from the time it gets screwed in to out. What happens to all those bulbs that get compacted?

[Leo Graywacz]

Oooo Ooooo Me Me......


The release their mercury in the landfill.


Am I right huh huh, am I ? Am I?

[Jon Nuckles]

There is more and more evidence accumulating to show that naturally occurring phenomena have such a great affect on climate that any human behavior is negligible in comparison. According to the most reliable sources, the earth has not warmed in the last 15 years. At this point, I think the real "climate change deniers" are those who choose to ignore this evidence. In any case, an "uninhabitable world" is only predicted by the fringe scientists.

Scientists overwhelmingly disagree with the quote above.

[Leo Graywacz]

Government paid scientists and scientist with government grants disagree with that quote above. They still don't have a theory about how things interact within the atmosphere let alone a good working theory.

Them saying that the oceans are absorbing the heat for the last 15 years is the reason there have been no rise in temperature in those years is laughable. Did someone throw a heat vacuum switch on the ocean and now all of a sudden the ocean is more of a heat sink then it has ever been?

CO2 levels have been increasing and the temps have leveled off. Something else needs to be inserted in their equations to fix their broken theory.

I don't disagree that temps have been warming. That is pretty indisputable. What I am saying is that we are still emerging from the little ice age and will continue to do so until a new trigger gets set off and we plunge into another ice age.

The low sunspot count is reminiscent of the Maunder Minimum that sparked the little ice age. We may not have to worry about global warming.

[Jason Roehl]

The challenge is that the numbers are all over the place for the actual level of mercury in fish. FDA limits it to 1 ug/g and regularly cites commercial vendors who exceed that limit. Other claim the lower numbers previously cited. So you could expect to find from 0 to 13.6 mg in 30 lbs of fish.

Of course, the exposure to mercury from eating ANY fish is higher than that from normal use of a CFL - the mercury in a CFL is contained within the bulb and stays there, as long as the bulb is not broken. If the bulb breaks, since the mercury is in vapor form it rapidly dissipates, and it would be very difficult to inhale more than about 10% of the mercury vapor without making special effort to do so, so let's say you could potentially inhale 0.4 mg of mercury, using the highest numbers cited in this thread. Using the lowest numbers cited in this thread, that's the equivalent of eating 56 ounces of tuna, or, using the FDA limit, 14 ounces.

So, the bottom line is that one is very unlikely to receive more mercury exposure from CFLs than from eating fish. As a practical matter, it just doesn't matter - unless you are eating LOTS of mercury laden fish or are constantly breaking CFL bulbs, it will have essentially no impact on your health or life.

Of course, you also left out the bioavailability factors--how much of that inhaled mercury is absorbed into the body via the lungs and how much of that fish-borne mercury is absorbed into the body via the digestive system.

[Rick Potter]

Forget Gold. Forget silver. I am stockpiling 100 Watt bulbs, and in a few years I will be rich. RICH I tell you! Hee, hee, hee. Light bulb king, that's me. When you need to see the light...call the Light Bulb King. 1-800-get rich.

King Richard

[Leo Graywacz]

Until the light bulb police come and take you away....

[Brian Elfert]

Until I went to CFLs I used almost zero 100 watt light bulbs. I just didn't need the extra light of a 100 watt bulb except in the garage. Most of my fixtures only support 60 watt regular bulbs anyhow.

[Brian Elfert]

As far as mercury goes, a janitor at the school at my church dropped an old piece of science lab equipment with mercury in it a few years ago. The school was closed for something like a week and the cleanup cost around $100,000. I believe they even had to replace the carpet in that part of school. I think they overreacted, but I don't know how much mercury was actually released.

I'm from a generation where we used raw mercury in the science lab at school. My mother had mercury thermometers and she just swept up the glass and mercury if one broke and put it in the trash.

[Ralph Sprang]

Ralph, of the 2 billion cfls produced each year, most will end up in land fills.

Statistics suggest most will be recycled rather then end up in landfills.

I think normal use better go from the beginning to the end of the bulb, not from the time it gets screwed in to out. What happens to all those bulbs that get compacted?

The mercury is released into the air and dissipates, same as it does in nature. Remember the mercury is a vapor, not a solid, so if the bulb is broken, within 5 minutes or so the vapor is "gone".

[Ralph Sprang]

I don't disagree that temps have been warming. That is pretty indisputable.

Guess that explains why we are expecting record low temperatures....

Those who have been following this issue for a while may recall that the original term was "global warming" - but the term "climate change" was adopted when research confirmed that temperatures were not really increasing.

Temperatures naturally fluctuate over time, and one current theory is that the weather is cyclical over long periods (hundreds of years), and periodic "ice ages" are normal for the earth.

I'm not aware of any general consensus within the academic community of the precise causes of climate change or the quantitative impact of man-caused vs. natural phenomena. However, this is not really my research area and I am not really an expert on this topic.

[Leo Graywacz]

Guess that explains why we are expecting record low temperatures....

Those who have been following this issue for a while may recall that the original term was "global warming" - but the term "climate change" was adopted when research confirmed that temperatures were not really increasing.

Temperatures naturally fluctuate over time, and one current theory is that the weather is cyclical over long periods (hundreds of years), and periodic "ice ages" are normal for the earth.

I'm not aware of any general consensus within the academic community of the precise causes of climate change or the quantitative impact of man-caused vs. natural phenomena. However, this is not really my research area and I am not really an expert on this topic.

You're not telling me anything. Preaching to the choir. But summer temps have been getting warmer around here, but winter temps have been getting cooler too.

It's the sun I tell ya.....