(AP) - A broken compact fluorescent light bulb releases a mercury-containing
powder, some of which can evaporate into the air, and is difficult to contain or
clean up.
Mercury, a neurotoxin, is thought to have the biggest impact on the
developing brains of fetuses, infants and young children through sustained
exposure.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has written guidelines on how to
clean up a broken bulb and the mercury. In general, the area should be vented
well by opening windows to reduce the mercury air concentrations; mercury should
be carefully scooped up using paper or cardboard, or picked up using tape or a
sticky material; and the glass and mercury powder should be sealed in a glass
jar or plastic bags.
The EPA's full guidelines are here:
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/spills/index.htm
Some states have made it illegal to throw CFLs in the garbage, while other
states advise residents to seal a burned-out or broken CFL in two plastic bags
if they are going to dispose of it in their regular trash.
The EPA lists state laws here:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/id/univwast/statespf.htm
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