Daily Drop: Compact Fluorescents

[Hashime]

I've heard of people having to hire professional cleaners experienced in cleaning chemicals to get that shit out of the floor. Hope that's just a suburban myth.

It's not an urban legend. Mercury is one of the most toxic chemicals and in vapor form, it sticks to anything, especially carpets etc. It needs professional cleaning, unless one doesn't mind breathing mercury for the next few years.

There is too small an amount in 2 bulbs to be seriously concerned unless eating off the surface.

 

[Hashime]

I have broken a few before, one time I was playing with my air-soft pistol an one bounced into a 2 bulb mount breaking both.

 

[tootle]

For some reason this reminds me of those mini battery powered plasma globes you can get and what would happen to them if you dropped them while they were on.

 

[Something Amyss]

I've heard of people having to hire professional cleaners experienced in cleaning chemicals to get that shit out of the floor. Hope that's just a suburban myth.

It's not necessary, but you do have to handle cleanup with care. Seems like a dumb thing to drop, but as long as I'm not the one clinging things up.

 

[Denamic]

Aw, man.
That second one was a hero and deserved to live.

 

[Drexlor]

Take that CFL bulbs! EDISON'S REVENGE!!!

 

[goldenheart323]

EPA steps for a broken light bulb [http://www.epa.gov/cfl/cflcleanup.html]

Thanks for finding the link.

Notable parts:

"Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more."

If that happens in the winter, how long do the CFL's have to be on to make up for all the heat energy lost during those 15 minutes of ventilation? If it's during a hot summer day, how long might the air conditioner have to run to cool the house back down?

* 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.

Oh, so it's not just 15 minutes with the windows open. It's 15 minutes before cleaning up the bulb, plus 15 minutes each time after vacuuming later on, so roughly an hour with the windows open? How much wasted energy might that result in?

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.

If mercury's not that harmful, why should all fabric that comes in direct contact with the broken bulb be thrown away? Keep in mind, this isn't from an anti-CFL group. These instructions are from the EPA. I'm pretty sure they like these things & want everyone to use them.

If you want to use them, fine, but I don't think they should be banned. While burning the coal for the extra energy to run an incandescent may release slightly more mercury into the air, it's released out the power plant's tall chimney. I'd rather it be high up in the air than in my living room. Not to mention CFL's require energy for someone to dig up & transport mercury rather than just leave it be.
------------------------------------

...
Meanwhile, it makes me sad they weren't plugged in and switched on when dropped.

Awesome idea. :-D

 

[RDubayoo]

From the Wikipedia article:

Mercury poisoning of Chinese factory workers

In the past decade, hundreds of Chinese factory workers who manufacture CFLs for export to first world countries were being poisoned and hospitalized because of mercury exposure. Examples include workers at the Nanhai Feiyang lighting factory in Foshan where 68 out of 72 were so badly poisoned that they required hospitalization. At another CFL factory in Jinzhou, 121 out of 123 employees were found to have excessive mercury levels with one employee's mercury level 150 times the accepted standard.

I guess if the Chinese are the only ones harmed then it's okay...?

 

[dalek sec]

It's interesting how you drop the items and how that effects the way they shatter. Hope you guy's didn't breathe in any of that crap and tomorrow's drop should be interesting!

 

[harvz]

seriously, who was checking any health concerns? as far as i could tell, no one was wearing any masks, paul was directly above it.

the recommended method of cleanup is essentially evacuation and anyone entering the room should be wearing something that could only be described as a haz-mat suit

 

[SyphonX]

That is.. really dangerous.

Don't these contain mercury and other things that just kind of float around in a poisonous vapor?

I don't use these things anymore.

 

[Graham_LRR]

seriously, who was checking any health concerns? as far as i could tell, no one was wearing any masks, paul was directly above it.

Whenever we drop anything with glass we're always wearing safety goggles, even if we're off camera.

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I WOULD LIKE TO DRAW EVERYONE'S ATTENTION TO THIS:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

and further request that you all chill out a bit.

We appreciate your concern for our safety, but we're fine.

 

[Reptiloid]

Sweet explodey crunchy goodness!

I really hope you're gonna bring out the crowbar on Xmas Eve. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Winter Solstice than to smash the crap out of something.

 

[thublihnk]

seriously, who was checking any health concerns? as far as i could tell, no one was wearing any masks, paul was directly above it.

Whenever we drop anything with glass we're always wearing safety goggles, even if we're off camera.

------------------

I WOULD LIKE TO DRAW EVERYONE'S ATTENTION TO THIS:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

and further request that you all chill out a bit.

We appreciate your concern for our safety, but we're fine.

Graham, clearly you don't know enough for your own good. Everyone knows that a tiny amount of mercury will turn you into a zombie with no awareness that you are a zombie, nor any obvious symptoms. It's clear to everyone but you that everyone who was at the shoot, along with everyone they've come in contact with after or before the shoot should be quarantined to the moon.

 

[Palwador]

I seriously doubt that two tiny light bulbs are enough to turn you... think about all those bulbs that are broken every day. you need atleast five to cause zombiefication.

 

[Lou]

I've broken a few of these, and I can safely say that I am still alive.

Trust me. I double checked.

 

[jabrwock]

They might be "liquid-mercury-free" (it uses amalgam, a mercury allow, so there's a lot less danger of mercury vapour, making cleanup less hazardous), I saw some in Walmart yesterday when I was shopping for an LED MR16 bulb for my light-up xmas tree.