Broken CFLs can be unsafe
July 7th, 2011 - 4:35 pm ICT by IANSWashington, July 7 (IANS) A broken compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb can be unsafe for human beings because it releases mercury vapour into the air for weeks, even months.
The amount of liquid mercury (Hg) that leaches from a broken CFL is lower than the level allowed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), so they are not considered hazardous.
However, Yadong Li and Li Jin of Jackson State University report that the total amount of liquid mercury vapour released from a broken CFL over time can exceed the amount considered safe for human exposure, reports the journal Environmental Engineering Science.
As people can inhale vapour-phase mercury, the authors suggest rapid removal of broken CFLs and adequate ventilation, as well as suitable packaging to minimise the risk of breakage of CFLs.
Tests of eight different brands of CFLs and four different wattages revealed that Hg content varies significantly from brand to brand, according to a Jackson statement.
–Indo-Asian News service
St/mj/vt
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Tags: adequate ventilation, asian news, cfl, cfls, compact fluorescent light, environmental engineering science, environmental protection agency, human beings, human exposure, indo, jackson state university, leaches, li jin, liquid mercury, mercury hg, mercury vapour, mj, rapid removal, us environmental protection agency, us environmental protection agency epa