Low Energy Light Bulb

The Low Energy Light Bulb - a green solution or a danger to our health?

Recently we’ve all hard that Low Energy Light Bulbs (CFL’s) contain a minute amount of mercury (5mg), required to make the bulbs work. However, this revelation isn’t as new as you might think – we’ve known for years that fluorescent bulbs contain mercury. It’s only become prominent because of the increase in popularity of these bulbs due to upcoming government regulations in phasing out the traditional tungsten bulb. Further, an old fashioned tungsten bulb contains tungsten nitride, dioxide, pentoxide and trioxide, which deposits on room surfaces when broken and has been known to have a detrimental effect on health.

However, Ministers hope that using the more environmentally friendly bulbs will save at least 5M tons of CO₂ every year, equivalent to a typical 1 Gigawatt coal fired power station (CFL's are more efficient, last longer and have lower energy consumption). Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO₂ out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb. If that’s not enough, newer bulbs give us the warm light we look for in our homes and there are now even dimmable and coloured bulbs available.

What should we do if one of these low Energy Bulbs breaks?

According to the government “the very small amount contained in a single modern CFL is unlikely to cause any harm, even if the lamp should be broken”. The advice they offer differs little from that given for the fluorescent bulbs that we have had for years. It is as follows:

”Vacate the room and ventilate it for at least 15 minutes. Do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Mercury is hazardous waste and the bag should not be disposed of in the bin. All local councils have an obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of hazardous household waste at a civic amenity site or household waste recycling centre”.

”The National Household Hazardous Waste Forum runs a website with details of these centres for chemicals, but which also applies to other hazardous wastes (http://www.chem-away.org.uk/). Alternatively contact your local council direct”.

It should also be noted that breakage rates for CFL’s is significantly lower than for old fashioned bulbs as they are coated with plastic as a protector and as they're of a smaller diameter than traditional bulbs they have higher stress limits.

How should I dispose of unwanted CFLs, e.g. at the end of their life?

The Environment Agency acknowledges that the authorities need to do more to inform the public about safe recycling of the new-style bulbs. According to Defra, 'appropriate handling and disposal is not difficult, and what is now a relatively new disposal system will become more fully developed.' From 1^st July 2007 waste CFL’s are classified as Waste Electrical or Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and under new regulations for hazardous waste, councils are obliged to recycle them. At present, they should be placed in special bins also used for batteries at a council dump. But in future, councils will have to provide a collection service or install special recycling banks for the bulbs. Designated Collection Facilities are also being set up at local authority civic amenity sites. From here the transport, treatment and recycling of waste CFL’s will be taken care of, where most of the mercury can be recovered and the glass recycled.

So what does this mean in reality?

Arrangements for disposal of hazardous waste vary between local authorities and people should seek advice from their local council. The National Hazardous Waste Forum has produced a guide (the Haz guide) which local authorities are encouraged to adopt. The guide suggests "where householders put out hazardous waste separate from their other household waste for separate collection, the legislation requires that this waste should be kept separate and not mixed with non-hazardous wastes". How local authorities do or do not meet this is up to them but the Haz Guide provides some examples of good practice.

South Oxfordshire County Council have adopted this guide and offer residents the ability to take all unwanted electrical goods to certain disposal sites where there will be clearly labeled containers designed to collect items that fall under the WEEE Directive. However, at present there are no plans to collect this waste directly from the household (like you would with an unwanted fridge, for example) and the community waste vehicle serive will no longer collect electrical items. Neither were they able to offer any specific advice on how to handle a broken CFL apart from to follow Defra’s guidelines and to use common sense. They do strongly advise people not to dispose of these items through normal rubblish collection, their aim being to prevent electrical waste going to landfill and harming the environment.

What’s the future then?

For now there is plenty of life left in CFL’s, but the future for lighting our homes is even brighter. LED's are even more efficient than our current range of CFL’s, lasting 50-60,000 hours. However, they currently have 2 drawbacks. Firstly they create a 'cold light' and secondly they aren't as bright as a normal light bulb. However, both of these drawbacks are being addressed as they were with the first Low Energy Bulbs.