Cleaning up a broken CFL bulb
 

From the EPA's website - what they want us to do if we brake one of those stuuupid curly light bulbs. Hat tip Mark Steyn!

(Want one of these in your home???)

Before Cleanup
* Have people and pets leave the room, and avoid the breakage area on the way out.
* Open a window or door to the outdoors and leave the room for 5-10 minutes.
* Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning (H&AC) system, if you have one.
* Collect materials you will need to clean up the broken bulb:
o Stiff paper or cardboard
o Sticky tape (e.g., duct tape)
o Damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes (for hard surfaces)
o Glass jar with a metal lid (such as a canning jar) or a sealable plastic bag(s)

Cleanup Steps for Hard Surfaces

* Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place debris and paper/cardboard in a glass jar with a metal lid. If a glass jar is not available, use a sealable plastic bag. (NOTE: Since a plastic bag will not prevent the mercury vapor from escaping, remove the plastic bag(s) from the home after cleanup.)
* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. Place the used tape in the glass jar or plastic bag.
* Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
* Vacuuming of hard surfaces during cleanup is not recommended unless broken glass remains after all other cleanup steps have been taken. [NOTE: It is possible that vacuuming could spread mercury-containing powder or mercury vapor, although available information on this problem is limited.] If vacuuming is needed to ensure removal of all broken glass, keep the following tips in mind:
o Keep a window or door to the outdoors open;
o Vacuum the area where the bulb was broken using the vacuum hose, if available; and
o Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and seal the bag/vacuum debris, and any materials used to clean the vacuum, in a plastic bag.
* Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly.
o Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your area. Some states and communities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center.
* Wash your hands with soap and water after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing bulb debris and cleanup materials.
* Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off, as practical, for several hours.

Cleanup Steps for Carpeting or Rugs
* Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place debris and paper/cardboard in a glass jar with a metal lid. If a glass jar is not available, use a sealable plastic bag. (NOTE: Since a plastic bag will not prevent the mercury vapor from escaping, remove the plastic bag(s) from the home after cleanup.)
* Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. Place the used tape in the glass jar or plastic bag.
* Vacuuming of carpeting or rugs during cleanup is not recommended unless broken glass remains after all other cleanup steps have been taken. [NOTE: It is possible that vacuuming could spread mercury-containing powder or mercury vapor, although available information on this problem is limited.] If vacuuming is needed to ensure removal of all broken glass, keep the following tips in mind:
o Keep a window or door to the outdoors open;
o Vacuum the area where the bulb was broken using the vacuum hose, if available, and
o Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and seal the bag/vacuum debris, and any materials used to clean the vacuum, in a plastic bag.
* Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly.
o Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your area. Some states and communities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center.
* Wash your hands with soap and water after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing bulb debris and cleanup materials.
* Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off, as practical, for several hours.

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rugs: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
* The next several times you vacuum the rug or carpet, shut off the H&AC system if you have one, close the doors to other rooms, and open a window or door to the outside before vacuuming. Change the vacuum bag after each use in this area.
* After vacuuming is completed, keep the H&AC system shut off and the window or door to the outside open, as practical, for several hours.

I looked into this. The amount of mercury in a CFL bulb is tiny, and there's no reason to think most of it will escape (rather than remain in/on the bulb fragments). I concluded there is no real concern and you can simply sweep the bits up and throw them out. Unless you expect to break them frequently. I've been using CFLs throughout the house for 3+ years now, and haven't broken a single one. They seem significantly more robust than a conventional bulb, as far as breakage goes.

I wonder if I went down to the local EPA office and started lobbing CFL bulbs at their building if they're completely flip out. I bet their heads would explode from the panic that would ensue as they all scrambled to don hazmat suits and tripped over each other in their birkenstocks... Makes me smile just envisioning the hilarity.

Of course then I'd be gunned down by the FBI for using "chemical weapons" and branded a domestic terrorist. They'd claim that I shot myself though even though there was video showing gunfire and flames shooting out of the armored vehicles they'd use.

John, your conclusions appear to be at odds with those of the EPA.

The price of the CFLs in the stores where I shop have gone up 500% since they became mandated by the state. They were subsidized by the local energy utility prior to that.

I can just see the forty reviews on one guys write up. A one paragraph suggestion that turns into a doctoral thesis.

How often does a lightbulb break. I can count on one hand for the entire time I lived in my parents house. All of those broke due to me playing soccer and basketball in the basement. Total non-issue

Enjoy your CFL's...I have a large stockpile of incadescents. :D

The issue is that the government thousands of miles from me has mandated a toxic light bulb for my house and there's nothing I can do about it.

I spend no time worrying about mercury - I do worry about where I'm gonna get the 120W recessed bulbs I need in my kitchen. Let's just say I've been stocking up!

A CFL bulb has about 5 mg mercury. Imagine that a bulb breaks and all the mercury escapes into the air in your 12' x 12' x 10' room. That would be around 0.12 mg mercury per cubic meter of air. And it is something that might happen - I dunno, how often do you break CFL bulbs, once every 5 years?

OSHA limits are 0.1 milligram of mercury per cubic meter of workplace air. That's for workers exposed during 8-hour shifts and 40-hour work weeks.

Thus my conclusion that there is no concern, unless you are in the habit of breaking CFL bulbs frequently and then getting down on your hands and knees and inhaling deeply.

I don't know what the EPA's rationale is. I suppose that, sure, it is "better" to clean them up very carefully - but I live in a world of "good enough".

As for price - I usually pay around $1.50-2.00/bulb. Home Depot has them for $6 for a four-pack of 60w equivalent. I am something of a penny pincher but I find to hard to get upset about that price. Especially since they last for many years - well, not the dimmable ones I tried, those were crap - but the standard ones do. Do you pay more in CA?

100% agreement. This more proof that we, the collective we, have elected idiots.

I'd think you'll be able to get LED replacements in a couple years. Right now they are still too expensive.

But of course, the above is exactly what everybody will do.
;)

WTF is the point of this thread? Progress is bad?

CFL bulbs last 10 times long, and use way less energy.

Get a life.

It is open to debate if CFL bulbs are progress. I know a fair number of folks who can't handle fluorescent light very well at all.

Last I checked they were $5 each, prior to the mandate $0.99, have not priced the multipacks lately. Have about 10 burned out ones at the house, as it is unclear what the appropriate means of disposal is.

Which would be better, 0.0 mg or 0.12 mg per cubic meter?

If you break one and dispose of the debris in the regular trash have you committed a crime?

I was working in an at&t switch once and they made us spray shaving cream on the floor before we could drill our holes. (Asbestos)Then you had to scoop it all up and put it in a bag, then put that bag into another bag before you could throw it away.

CFL's are progress?

Serious question, have CFL's gotten any better? Last time I bought a couple, I was not impressed. They were very dim, it took forever for them to come on and when they did burn out they were seized into the socket so it broke at the base when I tried to unscrew it.

You forgot to mention that fluorescents trigger my wife's migraine headaches. She's not alone in having this reaction.

Not in my experience. The ones I have bought haven't lasted much more than 1 to 11/2 years. About the same as incandescent.