Now this is something that I have experience in... As a matter of fact I help manage all (chemcial and universal) wastes here at Iowa State University. Every campus in the nation is pushing for some "GREEN" status, as in "Our campus is more environmentally friendly than yours" type of pi$$in contest. I composed an article for a campus flyer called "Green Light"...that compared compact flourescents shown above, to ordinary incandescent bulbs.
AS I've noticed, again Earl E is right on the mark, all fluorescent bulbs (compact or not) contain mercury. Because of this they can not legally be disposed of in the trash. They need to be taken to the local HouseHold Hazardous waste collection site for your area.
What most people don't realize is that the EPA (and OSHA) sets very strict limits on mercury pollution. Mercury readily evaoporates (
link ) at "around" room temperatures. The mercury gas is regulated at extrememly low PPM, OSHA's limit is .005ppm. Standard four foot fluourescent bulbs have approx one drop of mercury in them. This is converted to a gas, which increases the volitality of fumes from broken bulbs. Bascially one broken bulb, not too bad, but two or three in the same room and you're breathing some nasty stuff and creating a potential contamination site.
Seems weird to me, considering we used to break thermometers in Science class and roll the mercury around in our palms (in 5th grade) because we thought it was cool. Maybe that explains why I'm weird...or perhaps that's just naturally occuring.
Another thing most people don't realize or understand about mercury is that it has it's own cycle that operates almost exactly like the water cycle. Think about that for a time or two.
What I found in my research in comparing compact fluorescents (CF) vs standard incandescent bulbs is this.
1. CF contain mercury, Incandescents do not.
2. CF bulbs cost more than incandescents...mostly due to their design and surcharge money to cover disposal costs.
3. CF bulbs do NOT last longer than incandescent bulbs, contrary to what the CF manufacturers and tree-huggers would like you to believe.
4. CF bulbs use less energy than incandescent bulbs, but emit less light as well.
In summation though, if your electricity comes from a Coal Fueled Power Plant it is more beneficial to use a compact fluorescent than an incandescent due to the efficency difference in the bulbs and mercury content generated from powering them. All coal plants emit mercury, as a bi-product of coal combustion...and even though CF bulbs contain mercury... over the life span of the bulb, the environmental impact concerning mercury is higher with incandescents than compact fluroescents because of energy need/not as efficient. If your energy comes from wind generation, the differences are almost erased and one isn't really any better than the other, as one requires more energy to operate and the other contains hazardous waste.
LONG WINDED, but food for thought. I'm glad your house didn't burn down and I hope you disposed of the bulb properly, our fish will thank you.
