what to do if a fluorescent bulb breaks
Sentry this: How to clean up a broken CFL light bulb
Fluorescent lights get their glow from the mercury trapped within, and the compact fluorescents (CFLs) used for free energy efficient household lighting are no different. So what practice you practise when one of these bulbs breaks, releasing that toxic mercury into your home?
Start things kickoff, you don't need to panic. While mercury is nothing to play effectually with, the amount contained inside a standard CFL is just virtually 1 percent of the amount that you'll find inside an old-fashioned mercury thermometer. Still, to exist safe, you lot'll want to be certain that you lot clean the mess upward correctly -- here's how to do simply that, per EPA standards.
Step one: Air out the area
As before long as that bulb breaks, you'll want to allow the room air out for near 15 minutes. Get everyone out (especially pets, who might be inclined to investigate the mess), then open up the windows and shut the doors. You'll also desire to be sure and turn off your central air -- the final thing you lot want is to circulate that mercury throughout your dwelling house.
Step two: Observe a sealable container
While y'all're fugitive the area in question, become ahead and take a moment to observe something capable of containing that broken bulb. A glass jar with a metal lid is ideal, just if you don't accept one handy, a plastic food container or fifty-fifty a sealable plastic bag volition exercise the play a joke on.
Step three: Pick up the pieces
You'll exist tempted to sweep everything upwardly with a broom -- merely don't. Annihilation that rifles through the cleaved bits of your bulb is going to risk mercury contamination. You'll also want to exist sure not to use your vacuum, equally doing so will risk kicking mercury dorsum upwards into the air.
The best bet is to carefully scoop upwards the larger bits of glass with a piece of paper or cardboard, something y'all can easily dispose of along with the broken seedling. Once the big pieces are up, attempt using a piece of duct record to easily elevator the tinier bits, along with any white powder that you see. You could also use a slice of bread -- merely don't eat it afterwards.
Step four: Wipe the flooring make clean
Once you've gotten the drinking glass upwards off of the floor, you'll demand to wipe things down with a damp paper towel. You'll want to go over the area adequately liberally, making sure not to get out any of that white pulverization from the bulb backside.
Once you're done, add that used paper towel to the container with the paper, the tape, and the broken glass. Become ahead and seal it up, then take it outside. Now would also be a good time to thoroughly wash your hands with soap and water.
Step five: Let the room air out for another few hours
Yous've gotten the flooring spic and bridge, but at that place still might exist trace amounts of mercury vapor left in the air. If yous're able to, exit the windows open and the air conditioning off for another couple of hours. Better safe than sorry, right?
Footstep 6: Dispose of the broken bulb
Depending on your local regulations, you might not exist required to have the cleaved seedling to a recycling center. It'south a good thought nonetheless, as yous don't desire that mercury sent off to a landfill, where it might slowly leech into the ground. The waste management section of your local government's website should have info on which facilities will take hazardous household materials off of your easily.
Here in Louisville, Ky., at that place's only ane place for residents to take broken CFLs -- and it's just open two days a week. If you're in a situation like this, it's fine to hang on to that sealed up wreckage for a few days -- just be sure to keep it outside.
If this all sounds too loftier maintenance for your tastes, so know that you lot have other options. LEDs offering amend energy efficiency, longer lifespans, and zilch mercury within the bulbs. If the higher toll tag is a bargain breaker, and so consider halogens. The gas each 1 uses to prolong the bulb'due south lifespan is totally harmless. A cleaved CFL might be an annoying chore to deal with, merely information technology's besides an opportunity to upgrade to a bulb that'south a better fit for your domicile.
Source: https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/how-to-clean-up-a-broken-cfl-bulb/
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