mercury poisoning
outlawed light bulbs
outlawed products
the new flourescent light bulbs
the new fluorescent light bulbs
toxic levels of mercury
I heard a weird thing..
@flowerchilde (12529)
United States
April 24, 2008 8:32am CST
I heard that the new (coil shaped) fluorescent light bulbs (here in the U.S.) have to be very carefully recycled. That the mercury in them is highly toxic. If you break one you must leave the room and stay away for a certain amount of time. Yet soon they will be mandating them as the only light bulbs to be sold. Has anyone else heard this about the mercury in these new bulbs? If these bulbs are going to toxify the landfills (and surely not all will bring them in for careful recycling) how are they benefiting the environment?
1 person likes this
4 responses
@AJ1952Chats (2331)
• Anderson, Indiana
30 Apr 08
When all else fails, consult Snopes to get the real skinny on this--and other--too good to be true story...
http://sefromaj.blogspot.com/2008/04/online-chapters-for-invisible-youth.html
The information there will put this all in perspective.
What will be the next item branded as dangerous here in our country?
I have the feeling that a considerable amount of these scare tactics such as artificial sweetener causing cancer have motives for being started that are far more sinister than even having 20 of these light bulbs get smashed inside of a camper trailer.
@AJ1952Chats (2331)
• Anderson, Indiana
30 Apr 08
Oops! I thought that I had picked up the url I'd meant to use here. Well, I have now, so it's "Light bulb comment--take two!"
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
30 Apr 08
..thanks! The site also tells how to go about the clean up of a broken one.. as they are a bit toxic but you don't have to call in the officials.. well if you busted 12, maybe so!
1 person likes this
@AJ1952Chats (2331)
• Anderson, Indiana
30 Apr 08
Thanks for the BR! Glad that this information was helpful. I use Snopes quite often to find out the real story behind various e-mails I receive--and just, at times, when I'm curious about something and decide to put in a few keywords to see what comes up on a given subject.
@slickcut (8140)
• United States
26 Apr 08
I did not know this..I went and bought a lot of these bulbs because my sister told me they save on your light bill,so i replaced my existing bulbs with these new ones...I sure did not know that they were toxic though...I will habe to look into this...They just never will leave things alone will they? always looking for BETTER WAY....
1 person likes this
@flowerchilde (12529)
• United States
28 Apr 08
My hubby swears by it.. and our son says its propaganda! I should look into it too!
@magrylouyu (1627)
• United States
24 Apr 08
Nope havent heard this one. I think that's too dangerous as many parents buy those. I know I buy them and my children are young. Thats a scary thought to think about.
