EnvE Lab’s research paper entitled “Exposure analysis of accidental release of mercury from compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)” – that was used by EPA on the evaluation of preventive actions needed after a compact fluorescent lamp is accidentally broken – is becoming more and more popular.
Few days ago we read an interesting article at Men’s Healt USA, the american magazine. The article is tackling the issue of health risks from Fluorescent Lightbulbs. Journalist mr Bryan Smith interviewed mr Sarigiannis, director of EnvE Lab.
But why all the hazmat-level precautions, especially if the mercury levels are as insignificant as Horowitz claims? Because with an incandescent, a broken bulb makes a mess, but with a CFL, it makes mercury vapors. In a 2012 study, a team of researchers at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece found that when a CFL cracks open, harmful levels of mercury vapor—a neurotoxin with numerous potential damaging effects—can linger some 4 hours afterward. “Indoor air concentration of mercury vapor may exceed toxicological thresholds of concern such as the acute Reference Exposure Limit (REL) for mercury vapor set by the Environmental Protection Agency of California,” the study authors noted.
“If you clean them up properly, there is no problem, I agree,” says Denis Sarigiannis, Ph.D., who led the study. “But what happens if you don’t? What happens if you try to clean them up and don’t follow the proper procedure?” How many people are really going to follow all those instructions—and the additional list of proper recycling techniques? The EPA recommends recycling, but if you can’t, it suggests sealing the bulbs in a plastic bag and placing them in the trash. That’s a lot of trust to put in a plastic bag.
You can read the full article @ Men’s Health USA or you can download the pdf version:
