Florescent bulb

[NMajik]

Let’s say I accidentally dropped a florescent bulb (which had burned out) while changing it and broke it. Is there enough mercury vapor or other toxic vapors to be a significant health hazard?

[DaveC426913]

I have always been taught that you want to avoid inhaling or ingesting the powder. I doubt the vapor is of much concern.

[YT2095]

just open a window for a while, rem, the pressure inside the tube is negative, so there`s not really much in the way of gas.

the Glass is more of a health risk in this instance, make sure you get all of it.

[insane_alien]

i had one shatter on my head and i'm still fine. i don't think you have anything to worry about. just sweep up the powder and glass and dispose it.

[jdurg]

If there was enough mercury vapor in there to be a problem, then the bulb would be useless. (As the mercury vapor would conduct electricity and you wouldn't get the discharge which creates the UV rays which cause the powder on the glass to fluoresce). You only hear about the so-called "dangers" because if you repeatedly dump a large number of these bulbs into general trash then over time enough mercury residue WILL build up to cause environmental damage.

 

A dozen broken bulbs, however, won't do you much harm. The bigger harm is getting cut by the shards of glass.

[gcol]

I googled this: "fluorescent lamps mercury toxic" and got some, to me, worrying results, including 2-4 tons of mercury released in the U.S. each year through the disposal of fluorescent lamps. Mercury content per lamp varied per manufacturer, but was something like 3.5-6.0 mg per lamp, in the dust. Make of it what you will. But is the danger to be airily dismissed? I doubt it.

[YT2095]

yes it is in this instance.

 

and open window for an afternoon will see to any potential issues, although even if you didn`t, you could break several in a locked room and still quite safe.

what you need rem also is the term you used is Very Vague!

I have a small Mercury tube about 2 inch long and you can SEE droplets of mercury in this condensed on the walls of the fused quartz.

something like THAT would make dozens of your ordinary tubes.

if I broke that, I wouldn`t panic either, just turn up the heat and open a window.

[jdurg]

Exactly. In order to get mercury vapor to give off the REQUIRED UV light to make the bulb fluoresce, you need to have an incredibly low concentration of mercury. This is so that it won't conduct the high voltage electricity but will instead absorb most of it and excite its outer level electrons. This is what results in the creation of UV light. Each individual bulb contains very little mercury vapor. The gigantic, four foot long bulbs do contain up to a few mg of Hg vapor, but the standard light bulb that we all see and use every day contains very little. A one time breakage in a non-confined area isn't going to harm anyone.

 

As I alluded to in my previous post, the massive number that break and/or are illegally disposed of each year to have a cumulative bad effect on the environment. The instance described in this thread, however, is meaningless in terms of acute exposure.

[John Cuthber]

What are you on about?

Ever heard of a high pressure mercury lamp?

They have relatively large amounts of mercury in them and they work quite well at producing UV light.

Anyway, as has been said, the little Hg in an ordinary lamp isn't a problem. If it's an old enough lamp then the Be in the phosphor might be.

[gcol]

Remembering the fuss about the dangers of lead in paint and petrol, asbestos in insulation, DDT, cadmium in batteries, etc., and how the debates always resolved to "yes, we know how dangerous it is, but for the convenience of commerce and profit, we can make a case for the risk to be acceptable".

 

The problem is always to demonstrate statistically just how many deaths are caused, and the difficulty and expense of doing such research.

 

How many deaths per annum would you find personally acceptable as a trade-off for the convenience of light sources containing mercury? 100, 500, 1000, more? How often do we pay for our convenience with other peoples' lives?

[swansont]

How many deaths per annum would you find personally acceptable as a trade-off for the convenience of light sources containing mercury? 100, 500, 1000, more? How often do we pay for our convenience with other peoples' lives?

 

It's probably more dangerous in the dark. You have to measure how many lives you save, too.

[insane_alien]

How many deaths per annum would you find personally acceptable as a trade-off for the convenience of light sources containing mercury? 100, 500, 1000, more? How often do we pay for our convenience with other peoples' lives?

 

the current amount, 0. well, ok there are a few deaths per annum from mercury containing lights but the mercury isn't the problem, its the shards of glass piercing major arteries thats the biggest health concern.

 

with the TINY amount of mercury in the lamps you could injest ALL of it and not show any ill effects. well, unless you're already somewhat ill, very old, very young or pregnant.

[YT2095]

gcol, please don`t try and generate needless controversy where there is non.

there`s a good chap

[insane_alien]

i've probably got more mercury in my two fillings than there is in a florescent bulb.

[YT2095]

actualy I think Mercury scares people More because of it`s unusual properties as a metal than than its actual toxicicity, it makes it SEEM more toxic because it`s so strange, and yet no one really bats an eyelid at Lead or Copper or Chrome.

it`s a toxic metal sure, but Many are! and Certainly more toxic in the Liquid phase.