Many have concern with using CFL light bulbs because of the mercury found inside the bulb. CFL bulbs contain about 3.5-5 milligrams of mercury. Mercury is used to ignite the phosphorus particles inside the bulb in order to create the light.

But when looking at it objectively, what carries a higher risk for the mercury exposure using CFL or incandescent lights?

The mercury is encapsulated in a small glass tube inside the bulb, and it’s not dangerous as long as the capsule stays whole.  Obviously accidents happen and light bulbs do break.  In this case mercury leaks out of the capsule.  If the bulb is off and cool when the capsule breaks, the mercury has ability to evaporate, but at a very slow pace. If you only have it sitting there exposed for a few minutes, the risk of exposure to airborne mercury is practically non-existent.   If the bulb is on or still hot while it breaks, some of the mercury will become airborne quicker because of high temperature inside the bulb.  In either case it is very important that you follow the proper guidelines on how to clean up broken CFL bulb.

If you are curious about how to clean up the mess after breaking CFL bulb, I found this step-by-step clean up procedure on Epa.gov:

Spills

What Never to Do with a Mercury Spill

• Never use a vacuum cleaner to clean up mercury (but see the “What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks” section below for more specific instructions about vacuuming broken fluorescent light bulbs). 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. It may lodge in the plumbing and cause future problems during plumbing repairs. If discharged, it can cause pollution of the septic tank or sewage treatment plant.
• 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. For example:
  • if you broke a mercury thermometer and some of elemental mercury beads came in contact with your clothing, or
  • if you broke a compact fluorescent bulb (CFL) so that broken glass and other material from the bulb, including mercury-containing powder, came into contact with your clothing.

  You can, however, wash clothing or other materials that have been exposed to the mercury vapor from a broken CFL, like the clothing you happened to be 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.

• Never walk around if your shoes might be contaminated with mercury. Contaminated clothing can also spread mercury around.

What to Do if a Fluorescent Light Bulb Breaks

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.
• Keep the central heating/air conditioning system shut off and the window open for at least 15 minutes after vacuuming is completed.

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.

Disposal of Clean-up Materials

• 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.

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.

Even if they are not broken, CFL lights also need to be properly disposed of because of mercury. Throwing used CFLs into regular garbage is irresponsible because of high toxicity of mercury and the disposal locations can be found at this EPA Website.

So what are the plus sides of using CFL lights?

They are more efficient than the incandescent lights. They use about a quarter of energy of incandescent lights, therefore you pay less money to your electric company!

Not too many people know this, but traces of mercury along with other air pollutants are released with burning of fossil fuel.  Fossil fuel (like coal) is used by the power plants to create electricity.  The airborne mercury settles in the areas surrounding the power plant and nearby bodies of water.  That’s how we and the environment around us end up being exposed to the mercury.  So the point is, CFL’s create only a quarter of emissions when compared to the incandescent lights, including mercury.

So, back to my original question: what carries a higher risk for the mercury exposure, using CFL or incandescent lights?

We are already suffering the consequences of industrial pollution, like mercury contaminated fish, acid rain, oil spills.  Then I start thinking about my daughter, her kids and the later generations.  What is Earth going to look like then?  If we keep up with the current pollution speed (and I mean all the countries put together), how healthy are our kids, grand-kids, etc. are going to be? What do we and they have to look forward to?

So CFL bulbs carry a slight risk of mercury exposure only if the bulb breaks.  But in the long run, by not using CFLs the exposure to mercury is certainly 4x higher in the form of air pollution from the power plants.

So I cast a vote of switching to CFL light bulbs because I like to save money and the planet! If you want to know how much money you will save on your electric bill by switching to CFL lights, check out my post How Much Will I Save By Replacing Incandescent With CFL Light Bulbs.

Everybody wins right?