CORRECT DISPOSAL OF BROKEN COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULBS

Compact fluorescent lights (CFL’s) are a good choice and provide good energy savings. Incandescent and CFL’s are being phased out in favor of LED/SSL (light emitting diodes solid state lighting). It will be a long slow process to convert to LED lamps. CFL’s are a good value & save energy over incandescent bulbs. The only drawback is toxic chemicals--they contain Mercury, Lead & Cadmium, three of the most toxic chemicals. Correct disposal and safe handling are paramount when dealing with ALL florescent bulbs. ANYONE installing florescent lamps should wear a pair of heavy duty commercial grade rubber gloves and a face mask that covers the nose and mouth (N95 or better). You should also have a roll of paper towels, a few small paper bags, window fan and heavy duty freezer ZipLock bags. Have ALL residents of the rooms where the CFL’s are being installed move to other rooms with the door closed or outdoors. If a CFL is broken, immediately turn HVAC (air conditioning/heating) unit off so toxic chemicals will not be “pulled” into the return air vent coating the unit’s filter and spreading toxic chemicals throughout the building. Open all windows in the room where the CFL is broken, set a fan in a window exhausting room air to the outdoors, leave room and close door behind you. Stay out of the room for 10 minutes. Dampen two paper towels and lay them over the broken CFL and carefully collect the broken CFL and chemical residue with towels and place in a paper bag. Use additional dampened paper towels to collect ALL chemical residues. Place paper bag and paper towels in a heavy duty freezer ZipLock bag & seal bag. All broken or expended (burned out) florescent bulbs should be recycled. Home Depot, Lowe’s & other home improvement stores accept florescent bulbs for recycling. If you would like additional information on the advantages and energy savings of LED over incandescent & fluorescent, email me and I will return information via email. James M. Butch Coger chce@ch-ce.com