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View Full Version : Warning to those who use CFLS! (may be deadly?)



ate
04-17-2007, 08:26 PM
WorldNetDaily: Consumers in dark over risks of new light bulbs (http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55213)


WASHINGTON â?? Brandy Bridges heard the claims of government officials, environmentalists and retailers like Wal-Mart all pushing the idea of replacing incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving and money-saving compact fluorescent lamps.

So, last month, the Prospect, Maine, resident went out and bought two dozen CFLs and began installing them in her home. One broke. A month later, her daughter's bedroom remains sealed off with plastic like the site of a hazardous materials accident, while Bridges works on a way to pay off a $2,000 estimate by a company specializing in environmentally sound cleanups of the mercury inside the bulb.

More in the link.

stinkyattic
04-17-2007, 08:29 PM
Mercury has always been a component of flourescent lighting.
This is just another piss poor example of the media grasping at any fucking sensationalist story they hear of....
beeeeee afraid!!!! be VEEEERY afraid!

ima go home now and put on body armor and crawl into bed and stay there forever.... oh wait!!! dust mites are in your mattress!!! you could be at risk too!!!!

ate
04-17-2007, 08:34 PM
*crawls under bed*


I hope you're right!

Markass
04-17-2007, 08:36 PM
I've busted a few of them in my closet..and once I torqued one too much when screwing it in and the pressure from me grabbing it made it bust. I'm alive? I hope at least, if not, then these muffins taste good as shit for being dead.

what risk does it present? there's nothing wrong with me..

stinkyattic
04-17-2007, 08:43 PM
Here's part of the MSDS for Hg vapor, enjoy.
Worst risks of low-level Hg exposure involve potential birth defects including developmental problems.
Mercury Vapor (http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/mercuryvapor/recognition.html#healthhazard)

Gruffy
04-17-2007, 09:56 PM
been using cfl's for years ..this is just a media hype :)

Gatekeeper777
04-18-2007, 12:37 AM
I have been under Mercury lighing for years, just ask the head like growth on my back.

markantony
04-18-2007, 05:27 PM
broke an 85w bulb the 1st day i got it... shattered everywhere. no harm done.

perfect example of why i dont read/watch the news daily. half is bs...

Nocturnal Stoner
04-18-2007, 05:34 PM
I stepped on one of my cfls once.

1 month later my legs fell off my arms were useless and now i'm a vegetable.

Hell no

isn't there safety risks with normal lightbulbs too.

Fucking media food as stinky said

thoughtwriter
07-19-2007, 09:30 AM
its the electric companies leaking propaganda... prolly want there high watt bulbs back in the socket, lol

the image reaper
07-19-2007, 03:27 PM
the 'mercury from lighting' scare is good for a few bucks (a motive, perhaps?) ... the local dump charges extra to accept the lamps ... whoops !, I dropped mine, and they broke, now I can just throw them in my own trash, for FREE :D ... my neighbor, the idiot tree-hugger, (trims his little lawn by hand, rather than risk polluting with a weedeater :wtf:), is worried because his old Toyota pickup is leaking oil, thus polluting the entire world, from his own driveway ... I asked him where the oil came from ? ... "didn't it come OUT of the ground ?", I asked ... "no, no, no", he explained, "it's different now, because MAN refined it" ... "you mean, MAN filtered it, and took the dirt out of it ?" I asked ... "I just can't talk to you", he says, going back into his home to read his Greenpeace brochures (he won't watch TV because of the radiation) ... :S3:

Chronisseur
07-19-2007, 06:38 PM
LMAO!

palerider7777
07-25-2007, 05:05 AM
what he said^^^^

dirfjiggler
07-30-2007, 02:20 AM
I have been under Mercury lighing for years, just ask the head like growth on my back.

haha...

reality0
08-02-2007, 12:58 AM
I stepped on one of my cfls once.

1 month later my legs fell off my arms were useless and now i'm a vegetable.










LOL :thumbsup:

snowblind
08-02-2007, 03:18 AM
when we where teens we used to break into a load of old factories and smash up all the floresent lights in lightsabre duels, smashing them on each other.

its mint the proper big 6 fters

then we cleaned it up and played five a side, we played there for about 3 months

it was sick

till the police came and we all got chased.

then we got pulled up in school

and detentions and letters

the point being nothing came from the lights

snowblind

fucking bacon

Th3 sand m4n
08-02-2007, 03:37 AM
thats fucked up that they exposed rabbits to mercury vapor over a six week period :wtf:

HighTillIDie
08-02-2007, 04:26 AM
i used to play with liquid mercury when i was little... i would smash old thermometers to get to it....

and snowblind, you better believe that i had flourescant lightsaber duels too

onequickmove
08-02-2007, 06:00 AM
irony!!!!!!!!!!!

so i read this, and i have a cfl on the table, it rolls off and breaks, right now! needless to say i picked up the shards with a paper towel; i hope i don't die :)

snowblind
08-02-2007, 08:58 PM
rock on hightillidie, they fucking rock. badass feeling when you smash em

ganjapharmersusa
08-03-2007, 12:18 AM
i am an electritian and love haveing lightsaber duals with the old fluros we do it all the time and im normal(actualy the boss makes us break them to save space in the trashcans) so we do it the fun way

macro
10-07-2007, 05:49 AM
haha that's ridiculous.
also, hi, 1st post!

I've broken several CFLs and vacuumed them up with a shop vac(uh oh)

Its been a year and so far 0 casualties.
more at 11.

wesley willis
10-10-2007, 09:30 PM
i've broken dozens of flouro tubes and cfls. i don't think anything is wrong with me.

Opie Yutts
10-11-2007, 04:08 AM
when we where teens we used to break into a load of old factories and smash up all the floresent lights in lightsabre duels, smashing them on each other.

its mint the proper big 6 fters

then we cleaned it up and played five a side, we played there for about 3 months

it was sick

till the police came and we all got chased.

then we got pulled up in school

and detentions and letters

the point being nothing came from the lights

snowblind

fucking bacon

I'm pretty sure I saw you in a movie.

Big len
10-11-2007, 11:27 PM
I guess we just call the envirement controll people in when we need to change our light bulbs so that we can do it properly.

ICEMAN69
11-05-2007, 07:33 PM
nO Really be alarmed! once I broke one of these and my left testicle emitted a strange orange ultraviolet grow for 2 weeks.

klondike_bar
11-05-2007, 09:30 PM
lol. ive got a plastic vial of about 3ml of murcury, (from 5 thermostats) and its great to play with.

i have a lid and aoid fumes of course. cool stuff tho. it reminds me of a silver flubber

Doctor Whoov
11-28-2007, 03:13 AM
Nther really isn't that much murcury in them. You'd have to break them and sniff them like those old time poppers and sniff the fumes of a couple to hurt you. Though I don't reccomend it. I agree, this is just media hype on a slow news day. They've probably been sitting on this story for a while.

klondike_bar
11-28-2007, 01:20 PM
its like lead in everything. sure its bad, but has the world ended because the last several generations of man were exposed to it?

stinkyattic
11-28-2007, 01:44 PM
Mercury can be deadly- it's not something you should ever play with. Use proper ppe if you have to handle it- nitrile or equivalent gloves, long sleeves, eye protection, and ventilation.

Number 1 DJ
11-28-2007, 03:51 PM
just dont break your bulb... i ve had cfls i have never broken one...

klondike_bar
11-29-2007, 01:20 AM
its bad for sure, but not if it cracks while your near it. those kids who smash the dead 48inch ones behind the grocery plaza arnt all in hospital now...

Opie Yutts
11-29-2007, 02:13 AM
Ok people here's the deal. If you want to grow your crops healthy and huge do this:

You go around to everybody in the neighborhood, announcing that you will come get their spent fluorescent bulbs for free. The word will get out and soon you will have piles and piles of beautiful bulbs. Put these through a small grinder, and then a shaker and screen, and/or possibly some chemical process (calling all chemists) that would separate all this alleged bad stuff. Fill up jars of this mercury, phosphorus, lead or whatever you kind find. Get your friends to help you in exchange for a little weed. Pour the stuff on your cereal, mix it in a meatloaf, or whatever, but get it into your guys' systems, and do it as much and as often as you possibly can. Not many people know this, but your liver just happens to filter out everything that a weed plant cannot use in the process of growing. What is left is passed into your bladder to be expelled into your urine. Now here is the key people: These substances or chemicals are rare and precious. Plants absolutely go crazy when a little of this urine is introduced into the system. It only takes a little because it is super concentrated. Let me tell you I have seen the results of grows using this method, and without exaggeration I can honestly say that growth is at least 2 times as fast and 3 times as big. This produces a yield roughly 3 times the normal amount. I highly recommend trying this in your grow, or perhaps even start a business marketing this stuff.

I hope that helps a little.


INCIDENTALLY I'VE NEVER BROKEN ONE EITHER.

klondike_bar
11-29-2007, 02:27 AM
uh...wha?

id call you a retard, but youv gven me too much help in the past. :rasta:

Opie Yutts
11-29-2007, 02:57 AM
I think you just did.

Subjekt
11-29-2007, 03:25 AM
Ok people here's the deal. If you want to grow your crops healthy and huge do this:

You go around to everybody in the neighborhood, announcing that you will come get their spent fluorescent bulbs for free. The word will get out and soon you will have piles and piles of beautiful bulbs. Put these through a small grinder, and then a shaker and screen, and/or possibly some chemical process (calling all chemists) that would separate all this alleged bad stuff. Fill up jars of this mercury, phosphorus, lead or whatever you kind find. Get your friends to help you in exchange for a little weed. Pour the stuff on your cereal, mix it in a meatloaf, or whatever, but get it into your guys' systems, and do it as much and as often as you possibly can. Not many people know this, but your liver just happens to filter out everything that a weed plant cannot use in the process of growing. What is left is passed into your bladder to be expelled into your urine. Now here is the key people: These substances or chemicals are rare and precious. Plants absolutely go crazy when a little of this urine is introduced into the system. It only takes a little because it is super concentrated. Let me tell you I have seen the results of grows using this method, and without exaggeration I can honestly say that growth is at least 2 times as fast and 3 times as big. This produces a yield roughly 3 times the normal amount. I highly recommend trying this in your grow, or perhaps even start a business marketing this stuff.

I hope that helps a little.


INCIDENTALLY I'VE NEVER BROKEN ONE EITHER.


Thats very intelligent but STUPID, i dont think the human body can take in too much minerals such as LEAD, MERCURY(this alone will kill you).....But I've broken a bunch of CFL's before and im fine, but never tried digesting the dose in foods...

I LOVE MEATLOAF, :rastasmoke:

klondike_bar
11-29-2007, 04:37 AM
lol i love ya yutts. unfortuantely im struggling between taking it as a joke and believeing you because you are my god....:hippy:

Subjekt
11-29-2007, 04:48 AM
lol, Long Joke...I hope no one takes this serious....SOrry Yutts, You are one of the Intelligent Elites so seeing this from your point suprised me...

prairieplantsystems
11-29-2007, 05:18 AM
What I'm afraid of is people simply throwing these bulbs away like regular bulbs and rainwater et other water which flows through trash will somehow contaminate drinking water. Actually water from dump sites is usually collected and treated but still heavy metals are hard to get out, more mercury in the landfill isn't a good idea. Any heavy metal is dangerous, though you wont feel any effects from it immediately. A large dose of mercury (much much more than the dose contained in a cfl) will in fact make you very sick. What usually happens though is you are occasionally exposed to small doses and your body absorbs a small portion of this dose. The mercury is absorbed and builds up in your brain tissue and is hypothetically a cause of alzheimers, parkinsons etc. any degenerative brain tissue disease. Also HID lamps contain mercury, so does pretty much all water and soil, only in minute amounts. You could go all your life doing lightsaber battles, eating shark meat (the fish containing the most mercury) and breaking cfls and you might never feel any side effects but the fact is mercury directly destroys nervous tissue, whether this is what happens in your brain when you ingest mercury is not clear but I would still not suggest playing with any mercury and properly recycling it, but there is no need to get all paranoid like the writers of that crazy ass article.

stinkyattic
11-29-2007, 03:20 PM
^^^good post^^^
Read more about how heavy metals build up in the ecosystem...
Bioaccumulation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioaccumulation)

the image reaper
11-29-2007, 03:33 PM
" Bald hillbilly swallows lead and mercury - grows hair and wins Lotto " - film at eleven ... :S2:

mfqr
11-29-2007, 04:25 PM
the 'mercury from lighting' scare is good for a few bucks (a motive, perhaps?) ... the local dump charges extra to accept the lamps ... whoops !, I dropped mine, and they broke, now I can just throw them in my own trash, for FREE :D ... my neighbor, the idiot tree-hugger, (trims his little lawn by hand, rather than risk polluting with a weedeater :wtf:), is worried because his old Toyota pickup is leaking oil, thus polluting the entire world, from his own driveway ... I asked him where the oil came from ? ... "didn't it come OUT of the ground ?", I asked ... "no, no, no", he explained, "it's different now, because MAN refined it" ... "you mean, MAN filtered it, and took the dirt out of it ?" I asked ... "I just can't talk to you", he says, going back into his home to read his Greenpeace brochures (he won't watch TV because of the radiation) ... :S3:

Sounds like a real character. "I just can't talk to you." sounds like something a paranoid schizophrenic would say hahaha

Chronisseur
11-29-2007, 04:31 PM
lol. ive got a plastic vial of about 3ml of murcury, (from 5 thermostats) and its great to play with.

i have a lid and aoid fumes of course. cool stuff tho. it reminds me of a silver flubber

...and you'd have the nerve to call Yutts a retard?

Let me tell you something. If a kid read this and decided to play w mercury, than he's an idiot. However, if MY kid read this and played with mercury, YOU my friend, would be a target.:wtf:

Markass
11-29-2007, 07:31 PM
I've used them for a couple years now...broken many in my house, and definitely been exposed to whatever the fuck's inside of them first hand..I'm not dead yet

klondike_bar
11-30-2007, 12:00 AM
my mercury ball is sealed airtight and was collected from a thermostat that i accidentally cracked (trying to take the merc out in order to dispose of withsome old paint cans. i scooped it in its new vial, and realized its soo cool, i had to keep it and play with it.

maik
12-10-2007, 03:55 PM
Mercury can be deadly- it's not something you should ever play with. Use proper ppe if you have to handle it- nitrile or equivalent gloves, long sleeves, eye protection, and ventilation.

Certainly good advice, and useful to anyone using HPS and MH bulbs too.

Of course it's no secret that a mercury amalgam is used in HID bulbs, too, only a little more.

So don't just throw them in your trash.

Narf!
12-15-2007, 11:08 AM
I would be more than happy to clean up your room for 2000$, after you busted a CFL. And you can "bet your bottom dollar" that after my company cleaned that room, you would have nothing to worry about. (Sarcasm) Easy money!

snowblind
12-16-2007, 11:53 PM
I'm pretty sure I saw you in a movie.

lol just saw your post oppie, what film was that ?

Frickr
12-17-2007, 12:09 AM
so lets take all the flororecent lights, take all the lead base paint chips, all the aspestos, and whatever other stuff we can find that makes you retarded and die from cancer, crush it all up in a giant blender, and spread it acrost some country we dont like? or better yet, instead of some country just over Washington DC. that would solve more problems than anything

Opie Yutts
12-17-2007, 12:22 AM
lol just saw your post oppie, what film was that ?

Man I can't remember, just a sec. One guy killed the other guy because he knew to slash his main leg artery with a broken bulb, and thought he would get away with it because they were both consentually fighting and knew the risks. Actually they were acting for a video camera, then they would put fights on the internet. What the hell. Was that a CSI?

Opie Yutts
12-17-2007, 12:24 AM
or better yet, instead of some country just over Washington DC. that would solve more problems than anything

:woohoo::thumbsup:

snowblind
12-17-2007, 10:30 PM
ahhhh ha ha ha i have absolutely no idea. gotta love cis, but ncis has it cus abby is fucking hot and i bet shes kinky as fuck.

peace

Doctor Whoov
12-19-2007, 07:02 PM
nO Really be alarmed! once I broke one of these and my left testicle emitted a strange orange ultraviolet grow for 2 weeks.

Fun ice breaker at parties.

Infamous
12-19-2007, 07:14 PM
I bought a 250 watt CFL 2 days ago and now I have a nipple on my head :)

420plants
12-24-2007, 09:04 AM
this is what happens when the local news has a slow news day.

Opie Yutts
12-25-2007, 09:36 AM
What do I do with a CFL when it burns out? What is the proper disposal of a CFL bulb?
Follow these guidelines to dispose your CFL properly:

<LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px">Like paint, batteries, thermostats, and other hazardous household items, CFLs should be disposed of properly. Do not throw CFLs away in your household garbage if better disposal options exist. To find out what to do first check www.earth911.org (http://www.earth911.org/) (where you can find disposal options by using your zip code) or call 1-877-EARTH911 for local disposal options. Another option is to check directly with your local waste management agency for recycling options and disposal guidelines in your community. Additional information is available at www.lamprecycle.org (http://www.lamprecycle.org/). Finally, IKEA stores take back used CFLs, and other retailers are currently exploring take back programs. <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px">If your local waste management agency offers no other disposal options except your household garbage, place the CFL in a plastic bag and seal it before putting it in the trash. If your waste agency incinerates its garbage, you should search a wider geographic area for proper disposal options. Never send a CFL or other mercury containing product to an incinerator.
ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs (http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/products/energy_star.htm) have a two-year warranty. If the bulb fails within the warranty period, return it to your retailer.What should I do if a CFL breaks?
Because there is such a small amount of mercury in CFLs, your greatest risk if a bulb breaks is getting cut from glass shards. Research indicates that there is no immediate health risk to you or your family should a bulb break and it's cleaned up properly. You can minimize any risks by following these proper clean-up and disposal guidelines:

<LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px">Sweep upâ??don't vacuumâ??all of the glass fragments and fine particles. <LI style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px">Place broken pieces in a sealed plastic bag and wipe the area with a damp paper towel to pick up any stray shards of glass or fine particles. Put the used towel in the plastic bag as well.
If weather permits, open windows to allow the room to ventilate.What is mercury, what are the sources of mercury emissions, and what are the risks?
Mercury is an element (Hg on the periodic table) found naturally in the environment. Mercury emissions in the air can come from both natural and man-made sources. Utility power plants (mainly coal-fired) are the primary man-made source, as mercury that naturally exists in coal is released into the air when coal is burned to make electricity. Coal-fired power generation accounts for roughly 40% of the mercury emissions in the U.S. EPA is implementing policies to reduce airborne mercury emissions. Under regulations issued in 2005, coal-fired power plants will need to reduce their emissions by 70 percent by 2018.
CFLs present an opportunity to prevent mercury emissions from entering the environment because they help to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants. A coal-fired power plant will emit 13.6 milligrams of mercury to produce electricity required to use an incandescent light bulb, compared to 3.3 milligrams for a CFL.
Even in areas without significant coal-fired power generation as part of the electricity mix (e.g., Alaska and the Pacific Northwest), there are other, equally positive environmental impacts from saving energy through the use of CFLs: reduction of nitrogen oxides (which cause smog), and prevention of substantial quantities of CO2, a greenhouse gas (which is linked to global warming), as well as other air pollutants.
Airborne mercury poses a very low risk of exposure. However, when mercury emissions deposit into lakes and oceans, they can transform into methyl mercury that builds up in fish. Fish consumption is the most common pathway for human exposure to mercury. Pregnant women and young children are most vulnerable to the effects of this type of mercury exposure. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that most people are not exposed to harmful levels of mercury through fish consumption. However, the FDA and state agencies do issue public health advisories.
EPA offers additional information and resources on all sources of mercury at www.epa.gov/mercury (http://www.epa.gov/mercury/).


GE Consumer & Industrial Lighting: Ask Us: FAQs - Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (http://www.gelighting.com/na/home_lighting/ask_us/faq_compact.htm#disposal)

SFGurrilla
12-25-2007, 12:59 PM
Didn't parents play with mercury? I wounder if they have an article on the deep wind explosions from uranius