Be careful CFL lamp may kill you
@Professor2010 (20156)
India
June 1, 2012 4:37am CST
Few days ago the workers in my home had broken CFL lamps while removing from the holder by holding the top plastic portion; today I saw one of them has a wound on his fingers that is not healing. It might be due to mercury poisoning.
Actually a broken bulb needs to be handled with care. These bulbs contain about four milligrams of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. Let me tell you, the older so called; ‘mercury in glass clinical thermometers’; contain about 500 milligrams of mercury. This is equal to the mercury contained in over 100 CFLs. And the Mercury Vapor Lamps used in street lights contain many times more mercury.
Actually these lights do not release any mercury when they are being used but only when broken.
For benefit of mylotters, I tell here how to safely dispose a broken lamp.
Open the window or door for proper ventilation and let pets, children, and other persons leave the room; switch off the air conditioner. Switch on exhaust fans if any so that the vapors are driven out.
Collect the broken bulb; the visible white powder and its top portion with a wet towel; throw that in proper bins supplied by your municipality only.
[b]Here in my city, I learnt few days ago that there are people, who collect the broken bulbs and they pay you 10 rupees for each; because the electronic circuit board in the upper casing or the components there are reused.
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Hope you liked this and found it useful; if so tell others.
Please share your experience if any.
Thanks in advance.
Prof.Dr. B.Saraf. PhD 
1st June 2012.
1st June 2012.3 people like this
5 responses
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
2 Jun 12
Yes, that's enough to cause mercury poisoning, particularly if his liver function is not 100%. A good liver cleansing program should do the trick after all the mercury has been removed from the wound. It's not just mercury poisoning, however... compact CFLs have many heavy metals in them, but just one cut is not necessarily enough to kill a healthy person.
There are millions of these CFLs that are broken up in landfill & are very toxic to our environment. Because you get a lot of rain in India, you may already have large amounts of heavy metals in your drinking water from this very thing, affecting everyone's health.
How much does 10 rupees buy? What everyday products can you buy with that money? I can get about 20c a kilogram for old circuit boards, which is the same as steel prices here. 20c might buy you an A4 black & white photocopy at a public library here.
1 person likes this
@veganbliss (3895)
• Adelaide, Australia
3 Jun 12
Half a ... - right; that does it! I've got a half ton of loaded PCB's I think I'll ship to India & get much more for it!
Thank you for the BR.
@tigeraunt (6326)
• Philippines
2 Jun 12
my mom thought us to use rag too.. and slighty wet too.
but since our home is well ventilated, mom just tells us to go to another room until she has cleaned the one with the broken bulb.
ann
1 person likes this
@maygodblessu44 (7336)
• India
5 Jun 12
Hello my friend Professor2010 Ji,
It is a great and useful tips to many here and as well a s when we tell others. Thanks,
May God bless You and have a great
@musicloverfriend (1465)
• India
1 Jun 12
Thank you for sharing this knowledge.Broken bulbs should not be used again as it does cause damage.It is just bad thing that bulbs is again build with that.
Thank you for sharing this knowledge!!!
Thank you for sharing this knowledge!!!1 person likes this
@Professor2010 (20156)
• India
3 Jun 12
Actually in many bulbs the electronic circuit is not damaged, so it is reused
