How should I clean up a broken fluorescent bulb?
Because CFLs contain a small amount of mercury, EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:
1. Before Clean-up: Air Out the Room
Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out.
Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system, if you have one.
2. Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces
Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass pieces and powder.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
3. Clean-up Steps for Carpeting or Rug:
Carefully pick up glass fragments and place them in a glass jar with metal lid (such as a canning jar) or in a sealed plastic bag.
Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder.
If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken.
Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister), and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag.
4. Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding, etc.:
If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away. Do not wash such clothing or bedding because mercury fragments in the clothing may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage.
You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, such as the clothing you are wearing when you cleaned up the broken CFL, as long as that clothing has not come into direct contact with the materials from the broken bulb.
If shoes come into direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from the bulb, wipe them off with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels or wipes in a glass jar or plastic bag for disposal.
5. Immediately place all clean-up materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area for the next normal trash pickup.
Wash your hands after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing clean-up materials.
Check with your local or state government about disposal requirements in your specific area. Some states do not allow such trash disposal. Instead, they require that broken and unbroken mercury-containing bulbs be taken to a local recycling center.
6. Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rug: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming
The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming.
Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?Yes, but the good news is that CFs are a temporary fix. I think that pretty soon they will be overtaken by the newer types such as LEDs, for which there are more and more fixtures every day.
Mercury is a valid concern.Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?
Thanks for posting a good question that drew out many considered responses. In my mind, anything that gets people moving toward thinking and acting in more environmentally responsible ways is good, and CFs have taken hold, at least. Yay!
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Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?why DOESN'T LED just replace bulbs already? what's stopping it?Report Abuse
Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?I am. That's why I don't use them.
I go with ol' reliable.
If they decide to stop selling them, I'll stock up my basement with enough old bulbs to last me for years.Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?Wow, that is really freaky. Thanks for sharing.
This is gross overkill. Fluorescent bulbs have been in use for many decades; all contain small amounts of mercury, and they do get broken from time to time. Simply sweep up the mess and put it in the trash. Dispose of used bulbs at a suitable recycling center.Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?
Yes everyone should be very concerned. We should be doing what we can to reduce heavy metals from our homes. The push to get mercury filled switches out of household thermostats was a great idea. Now we need to work on a ban of CF lights until they are 100% free of toxic metals.
We need to think of the harm we could cause our children by selfishly keeping these harmful bulbs in our homes.
Just don't be stupid screw the bulbs in tightly, and put them up so your kids cant get to them!! Its no more toxic to your kids then the cascade you use in your dishwasher. Overall the positive effects they have on the environment when used by competent individuals out-way anything. No kids will be around in 85 years anyways if we just continue to do nothing. Is anyone worried about the long-term environmental effects of compact fluorescent bulbs?
Our current primary source of electricity - coal - results in mercury being put into the atmosphere.
A CFL, even when you include the mercury in the bulb itself, reduces the total amount of mercury in the environment due to the amount of electricity it saves.
As we switch to fuels that put less mercury into the air (such as nuclear, solar, wind and hydro) this balance may change. But as others have pointed out, there are new lighting technologies (such as LED lamps) that will eventually replace the CFL.
Great question!
We already have all he data we need to research the effects of fluorescent bulbs. They were invented in 1890 and have been widely used since the 1930. The CFL is just another version and has been around for over 25 years. I've been around fluorescent tubes for decades and have seen no caution or regard to the handling or disposing of the tubes and have heard no stories of mercury poisoning of warehouse personnel who routinely break them while tossing them into the dumpster.
I look at all the panic about mercury as a good thing. We are now aware that they shouldn't be tossed into the garbage, and we can recycle them more easily if they are disposed of properly.
I will not use them, period! Anyone that wants to use them, that is fine, but not for me. I want a choice when I buy something, and if I don't want to buy the new bulbs and stick with the old one's, that is my choice. And I would resent very much in regard to my choice being taken away from me and "decided" by someone else.
I wish everyone would do their research and realize florescent bulbs are NOT earth friendly.
nice blog..no i dont worry..i worry about putting gas in my truck...paying my elect bill..heating my house this winter...
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