Light bulb warning...a must read

[Buster]

Quote:
Thanks Buster, and countryboy for the welcomes!
I'm quite used to forums and the type of folks who rile things up and/or are quite zealous about their opinions...not that I am always comfortable about it, mind you!

Southern28, I was gonna add when I thanked you for your welcome that I do think you DID want a debate because you posted again an hour after your first one in this thread...it seems to me as though you were itching to see what people had to say to your initial post. Just my thoughts.

I agree w/many members who are more moderate thinking (and I apologize for not cut and pasting all your names...I am getting ready to leave to visit my sister in PA in a few minutes); we can do only what we can and for some people it's a small amount and for some a large amount. Seems that Southern28 is able to do a lot; myself, I do what I can by bringing my own bags to do groceries, my chosing to live in a small town so we can bike around town, recycling, composting, making my own laundry detergent...etc. But I'm not, nor do I want to be, Helen Nearing.

I think that instead of bashing people who don't do a lot, we all should be glad for those who are doing what they can.

Well I'm glad to see you are still here and I appreciate what you just said. My in-laws love to recycle and even recycle our stuff. DW bought reusable bags at the store the other day so we don't use plastic while we grocery shop anymore. I feel that growing a garden and having the livestock that I do helps my own personal environment because I don't have to eat the garbage that is made and sold to us as much. I pick up litter around me even if it isn't mine. I think a lot of people try in their own way to do what they can. Economics plays a huge part in what I can and can't do.

 

[Stumpy]

I haven't read all of the responses, so perhaps someone has linked to an article about this. (I searched my email and could not find it).

Anyway, a woman broke one in her daughter's bedroom. To make a long story short, she was told a HAZMAT type clean-up would have to be done at the cost of a couple of thousand dollars, if I remember correctly. She could not afford it and had to just tape off the room. We had just bought a package of these when I read the article.

What a hassle to try to dispose of them, especially in a rural area where almost no recycling of any kind is possible.

 

[Scrambled Egg]

I remember when DDT was considered a miracle. We were going to kill every living fly in the world with it.

Of all the things the Government tried..I am the most disappointed in the fly eradication NOT WORKING!!!!

Both are harmful...that's why I quit. No more bulbs for me. I can't wait for the day that I can move on 20 acres and build a electricity free cabin with an outhouse and livestock roaming around. Seriously, if an outhouse was ok for my momma...it's ok with me.

WOW!!! Trish, I go along with any effort to recycle and save the earth...but an OUTHOUSE?!!!! No way could that be more environmentally safer than a septic/sewer system that purifies and re-uses the water...wow, that one is a bit out there girlfriend

 

[ChixDigMe]

Quote:
I love you Trisha! You have the best of intentions (to inform), and when people feel the need to insult your point of view, you stick to your guns, and just continue do what you do.

Thanks for being you. You continue to inspire my green-ness.

 

[DuckyBoys]

Quote:
Lets not forget, vaccines are injected straight into your body (or that of your child if you let them) Fish is injested. Light bulbs are not eaten (I hope) or injected... so lets remain calm.

And remember - there are still vaccines out there containing mercury... still being used.
I'd rather sit under a mercury filled light that have it injected.

LOL...yes, ther mercuric vaccines are given once, twice, and rarely a third time. While these light bulbs sit around your house in what type of quantity? This is actually a very good point that I didn't make in my post above - how many broken light bulbs does it take for you to have a concern?

And just FYI - I am not a proponent of the mercury/autism/vaccine link as there is no evidence yet and I think fear of dental amalgam containing fillings is over-reacting a bit. Guess how many Mg of mercury are in your typical dental filling? Or guess how many mg of Mercury are in your typical ocean fish served at Red Lobster?

Now you tell me how much mercury is in your house if you have 12 light bulbs? 48 mg.

Maybe non-sceince people think milligrams are these really small things but in toxicology micrograms, nanograms and picograms are small - milligrams are huge. 48 mg of mercury.... That to me is a lot. I can picture exactly how big of a pippett tip I would need to gather that amount up.

Now what if you have 50 of those bulbs - that is 200mg of mercury in your house.

Would you allow 200 "encapsulated" tablets of cyanide in your house if the government told you it would save the planet?

I just think people who claim one form is fine while claiming the other is not come off as hypocritical. Mercury is HIGHLY toxic - like it or not - in a light bulb or in a thermometer or rolling around your bathroom floor.

I also find it interesting that you don't address the evidence presented in the paper. Can you please point me to a government "fact sheet" which states in clear terms which type of mercury is being put in these bulbs and which type of mercury is coming out of the bulbs when broken? If you didn't get the gist of that paper then let me explain - one type goes in and three types come out.

I looked for the well written and absolutely declaritive "government fact sheet" on Mercury containing light bulbs but they all seem to be written by the same oblivious person.

Why would they not want to discuss these facts in the fact sheet so that the average consumer, one who doesn't have a masters in Toxicology, could see what is going on?

I think that is the magic question.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
I'm sorry, but this is getting silly. If you have a cherry tree in your yard, it contains enough cyanide to kill a whole big lot of people (primarily in the pits, and in the wilted leaves. Well actually IIRC it is a precursor that becomes cyanide per se when ingested, but, same difference).

The point is where the compound IS, and how much of it GETS to places that are toxic.

Breaking a CFL is by no means a death sentence, as is pretty obvious by the fact that people do it a lot and survive

If you break one, you should ventilate the room for a while, and don't eat the pieces. <shrug>

Personally I am not in favor of the widespread push to switch everyone over to CFLs. But it's not because of household toxicity issues; it's because of 1) the landfill-contamination problem (where I live, they are still not recyclable... and of course, how many other toxins do people throw in the garbage instead of disposing of 'properly', so even if there was a good way of disposing of them here, lots would still go to landfills) and 2) they just encourage people to maintain a wasteful lifestyle. ("You don't have to reduce the number of lights you use - just switch to CFLs and run the same amount for less money!")

But I think it's important to be reality-based about the actual risks, and how they compare to the risks of other, equally-avoidable things in life.

(BTW, even though it is true that generating stations are either 'on' or 'off', reducing electric useage DOES reduce energy demand, because if people require less electricity overall, fewer generating stations are powered up.)

JMO,

Pat

 

[countryboy]

cars have light bulbs too.

 

[DuckLady]

I think we have covered everything here.
Lots of good info and good points and good counterpoints.

Thanks everyone!