On Mar 2, 2004, at 5:53 PM, Bill Rabel wrote:
>
>> Current T12(?) fluorescent tubes will become obsolete in
>> next few years because of their mercury content and
>> environmental disposal problems.
>
> I just discovered that the compact fluorescent bulbs I've been buying
> (to replace incandescent) have mercury content. What's on the horizon
> to replace these?
The amount of mercury in a CFL is quite small (less than 10 milligrams
per bulb, typically about 4 mg). There's evidence to suggest that the
mercury is bound to the glass of the bulb, reducing the chance that it
ends up in ground water. In any event, the mercury released from a CFL
is much less than that from an incandescent bulb. (Incandescent bulbs
contain no mercury, but coal does.)
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