Newsletter Sept-Oct 2008

CFLs and Mercury

How much mercury in a CFL?
CFLs (and any fluorescent) have a small amount of mercury inside. Mercury is a well known neurotoxin. According to the EPA;

"CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – an average of 4 milligrams – about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. By comparison, older thermometers contain about 500 milligrams of mercury – an amount equal to the mercury in 125 CFLs".
"No mercury is released when the bulbs are intact (not broken) or in
use."

Recently manufacturers have been reducing CFL mercury content to as little as 2mg.

CFL context, Our Mercury Problem
Also, according to the EPA;

"...the U.S. is responsible for the release of 104 metric tons of mercury emissions each year. Most of these emissions come from coal-fired electrical power. Mercury released into the air is the main way that mercury gets into water and bio-accumulates in fish. (Eating fish contaminated with mercury is the main way for humans to be exposed.)
Most mercury vapor inside fluorescent light bulbs becomes bound to the inside of the light bulb as it is used. EPA estimates that the rest of the mercury within a CFL – about 11 percent – is released into air or water when it is
sent to a landfill, assuming the light bulb is broken. Therefore, if all 290 million CFLs sold in 2007 were sent to a
landfill (versus recycled, as a worst case) – they would add 0.13 metric tons, or 0.1 percent, to U.S. mercury
emissions caused by humans."

According to Mary Uhl of the New Mexico Environment Department Air Quality Bureau,

"In 1999, coal fired generators emitted 48 tons of mercury (approximately 37% of mercury emitted)."

CFL vs Incandescent re. Mercury
According to the EPA, the mercury emitted at a power station to light a 60watt incandescent 24 hours a day for most of a year (8000 hours) is 5.8mg (using national average emission figures) while that for a CFL of the same light output (including the mercury inside the bulb assuming it ends up broken in a landfill) is 1.6mg.

Recycling CFLs
There are a number of places to recycle unbroken but non-functional CFLs in Montezuma County. Empire Electric and the county are cooperating with the following locations to collect CFLs for recycling by Veolia, a leader in recycling technology

Bright Ideas
Carharts
Choice Building Supply
City of Cortez
City of Montecello
Dolores Food Market
Dolores General Store
Empire Electric
Montezuma County
Monticello Mercantile

Slavens
Town of Mancos
Town of Dove Creek
Town of Dolores
Ute Mtn. Ute Tribe

What to do with a broken CFL
The info below is from the EPA website;
http://epa.gov/mercury/spills

If you break a CFL, be careful how you go about cleaning it up and disposing of it. For instance, you should immediately open windows to get good ventilation.

What Never to Do with Mercury

Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury. The vacuum will put mercury into the air and increase exposure.
Never use a broom to clean up mercury. It will break the mercury into smaller droplets and spread them.
Never pour mercury down a drain.
Never wash clothing or other items that have come in direct contact with mercury in a washing machine, because mercury may contaminate the machine and/or pollute sewage. Clothing that has come into direct contact with mercury should be discarded. By "direct contact," we mean that mercury was (or has been) spilled directly on the clothing.

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

Clean-Up Steps for Hard Surfaces

Carefully scoop up glass pieces 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 fragments 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.

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.

Clean-up Steps for Clothing, Bedding and Other Soft Materials

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.

For more details, see
http://epa.gov/mercury/spills.

Recycling Spotlight-

Belt Salvage

Located on 491 just south of the airport turnoff (road G), Belt Salvage will take almost anything metal, and sometimes pay you for it. One outstanding exception is fluorescent ballast. Also, propane bottles must be kept separate from your other metals.

Otherwise, they take anything metal from steel soup cans and aluminum drink cans to automobiles and appliances. When you take your household cans to them, you don't have to separate them into steel and aluminum, but will be paid more if you do. They can be crushed or not.

Refrigerators should first have their refrigerant removed for recycling by an appliance repair business or at the county landfill. The refrigerant is a greenhouse gas and should not be released into the atmosphere.

They are open 8-5 Monday thru Friday and 8-12 Saturday. They may be closed on some holidays.

Empire Electric

There are bins for household batteries as well as for CFLs at locations listed under the CFL article in this newsletter.

Al Gore's Challenge

"Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years."

"This goal is achievable, affordable and transformative. It represents a challenge to all Americans - in every walk of life: to our political leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, engineers, and to every citizen."

Earlier in his speech, Al Gore said that the "three seemingly intractable challenges" of our economic problems, our "energy tsunami" and the national security threat of the climate crisis have a common thread "deeply ironic in its simplicity: our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges"

He also said

"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet."

and

"Scientists have confirmed that enough solar energy falls on the surface of the earth every 40 minutes to meet 100 percent of the entire world's energy needs for a full year. Tapping just a small portion of this solar energy could provide all of the electricity America uses."

"And enough wind power blows through the Midwest corridor every day to also meet 100 percent of US electricity demand. Geothermal energy, similarly, is capable of providing enormous supplies of electricity for America."