From "This Green Life"This isn't necessarily an "emergency management" issue, but it was something I thought was important and relevant nonetheless. Most people are changing their lightbulbs to compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL's). If every household in the US replaced just one conventional lightbulb with CFL, the US would save $600 million in annual energy costs and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more that 800,000 cars!
However, CFL's do contain trace amounts of mercury, which is a dangerous neurotoxin, especially for young children, babies and pregnant women. Therefore, you should take special care when cleaning up a broken bulb and disposing of a used one.
How to clean up a broken CFL bulb:
1. Open a window before cleaning up, and turn off any forced-air heating or air conditioning.
2. Instead of sweeping or vacuuming, which can spread the mercury around, scoop up the glass fragments and powder. Use sticky tape to pick up remaining glass fragments or powder. Wipe the area clean with a damp paper towel or wet wipes.
3. Dispose of the broken bulb through your local household hazardous waste program or recycling program (at Waste Control in Kelso).
4. Wash your hands well after cleaning up.
5. If vacuuming is needed afterwards, when all visible materials have been removed, vacuum the area and dispose of the vacuum bag in a sealed plastic bag. For the next few times you vacuum, turn off any forced-air heating or air conditioning and open a window before doing so.
Don't throw used CFL's in the garbage where it might break en-route to the landfill and release mercury. Instead, recycle it. You can take bulbs to Waste Control in Kelso or to Home Depot. You can also visit http://www.earth911.org/ to find the drop-off place nearest to you.
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