We are encouraged to save energy by using compact fluorescent light bulbs.
That is undoubtedly a good idea for the environment and, now that the fuel cost component of electricity is rising rapidly, good for our wallets too.
As so often, however, there is an ugly side effect: a broken compact fluorescent light releases a significant quantity of mercury. Like almost all heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, plutonium (even were it not radioactive), mercury is a serious poison. Unfortunately there has been only sporadic publicity about the risk and little useful information is to be found on the packages.
That doesn't mean that we should shun compact fluorescent light bulbs, just that we need to clean up carefully when one does break.
It would be nice if there were perfect solutions to our problems and challenges but that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
It would be nicer still if those who are proposing a solution would be open and honest about the side effects. Then we can balance the risks and rewards to our best advantage.
The lesson here is that compact fluorescent technology is an adequate interim solution but better and safer is still needed. LED lights are safer and more economical than compact fluorescents but the initial cost is still prohibitive except for specialized use.
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Most CFLs today on the market contain less than 5mgs of mercury and there are CFL options out there that contain as little as 1.5mgs of mercury- which can hardly be called a “significant amounts of mercury” considering that many item in your home contain 100s of times more of mercury including your computer. Mercury levels in CFLs can never be “nonexistent” since mercury is a necessary component of a CFL and there is no other known element that is capable of replacing it. But CFLs actually prevent more mercury from entering the environment. According to the Union of Concerned Scientist, “a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times more mercury to keep an incandescent bulb glowing, compared with a CFL of the same light output”.
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