I have a friend who told me that Compact Fluorescent Light (CLF) Bulbs have mercury in them and that you should have a hazardous materials (Haz Mat) crew come in to clean it up if you break one.
With everyone going "green" these days, most people have CFL's in their home to save on energy.
Then there is all of the hullabaloo about the mercury in vaccinations being linked to Autism. Mercury is in fish, lightbulbs, dental fillings, and even things like mascara!! It is likely a part of your every day life, even if you don't know about it. And it is extremely toxic and dangerous if you are exposed to too high an amount.
So, I thought I'd so a little research and see just how dangerous mercury is and what your chances of exposure are in your everyday life. Want to know more?
For those of you who don't know what it is, Mercury also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum, is a chemical element with the symbol Hg (Latinized Greek: hydrargyrum, meaning watery or liquid silver) and atomic number 80. A heavy, silvery d-block metal, mercury is one of six elements that are liquid at or near room temperature and pressure. (The others are the elements caesium, francium, gallium, bromine, and rubidium.) Of these, only mercury is liquid at standard conditions for temperature and pressure with the melting point of −38.83°C and the boiling point of 356.73°C, making it one of the narrowest liquid range of any metals.
So, how does mercury get into your system and what is considered a toxic level of exposure? Unfortunately, there are a considerable number of ways that you can be exposed to mercury. The consumption of fish is by far the most significant source of ingestion-related mercury exposure in humans, although plants and livestock also contain mercury due to bioaccumulation (absorption) of mercury from soil, water and atmosphere, and due to biomagnification (concentration of a substance) by ingesting other mercury-containing organisms. Exposure to mercury can occur from breathing contaminated air, or from improper use or disposal of mercury and mercury-containing objects, for example, after spills of elemental mercury or improper disposal of fluorescent light bulbs.
Human-generated sources such as coal plants emit approximately half of atmospheric mercury, with natural sources such as volcanoes responsible for the remainder. An estimated two-thirds of human-generated mercury comes from stationary combustion, mostly of coal. Other important human-generated sources include gold production, non-ferrous metal production, cement production, waste disposal, crematoria, caustic soda production, pig iron and steel production, mercury production (mostly for batteries), and biomass burning.
Mercury and many of its chemical compounds, especially organomercury compounds (molecular compounds that contain mercury like thiomersal which is used in vaccinations as a preservative), can also be readily absorbed through direct contact with bare, or in some cases (such as dimethylmercury) insufficiently protected, skin. Mercury and its compounds are commonly used in chemical laboratories, hospitals, dental clinics, and facilities involved in the production of items such as fluorescent light bulbs, batteries, and explosives.
So, now we have a good idea of where we can find mercury. What is considered a toxic amount?
Currently, the U.S. EPA uses a Reference Dose (RfD) of 0.1 µg/kg body weight/day as an exposure without recognized adverse effects. The most common way that a person is exposed to Mercury is through the consumption of fish. As such, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Consumer Advisory in 2004 regarding fish consumption. In it, they have three recommendations for selecting and eating fish or shellfish:
So, what about those Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFL's)? Are they dangerous to have in your home?
Not really. That story you may have heard about on the news (including Fox News and the Financial Post) wasn't exactly reported correctly according to Snopes. If you're not familiar with the story, a woman was told it would cost over $2000 to clean up a mercury spill in her home due to a broken CFL. So, since she couldn't afford that she sealed off her daughters room with plastic. The mess was eventually cleaned up at no cost to the woman. You can read about it on the Snopes article I linked above.
According to EnergyStar, CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – an average of 4 milligrams.
Okay then, what about when it's used as a preservative in vaccinations? Everyone knows that mercury is linked to Autism!
Actually, there was a study recently published which definitively proved that there is no link between mercury exposure and Autism. Thousands of children in Italy were the subject of a vaccination experiment where 1/2 the children were given Whooping Cough vaccinations containing the normal preservative amount of Mercury. The other half were given TWICE the normal preservative amount. And the results? Ten years later, 1,403 of those children took a battery of brain function tests. Researchers found small differences in only two of 24 measurements and those "might be attributable to chance," they wrote in the February 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics, which was released Monday January 26, 2009.
Only one case of autism was found, and that was in the group that got the lower level of thimerosal.
The bottom line? CFL's are safe and more energy efficient so you should probably still make the switch. Ditch your old Mercury thermometer and make sure you follow the EPA/FDA guidelines for eating fish and you should be safe. When it comes to things like Mercury, it's always a good idea to educate yourself and your family.
More Information:
January 30, 2009
Mercury - Just How Dangerous IS it?
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