What to Do if a CFL Bulb Breaks in Your Home - Compact Flourescent Lightbulb = Danger

[Kevin Gregoire]

Cleaning Up a Broken CFL

What to Do if a CFL Breaks in Your Home




Before Cleanup

1. Have people and pets leave the room, and avoid the breakage area on the way out.
2. Open a window or door to the outdoors and leave the room for 5-10 minutes.
3. Shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning (H&AC) system, if you have one.
4. Collect materials you will need to clean up the broken bulb:
   
   • Stiff paper or cardboard
   • Sticky tape (e.g., duct tape)
   • Damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes (for hard surfaces)
   • Glass jar with a metal lid (such as a canning jar) or a sealable plastic bag(s)
   
   

Cleanup Steps for Hard Surfaces

1. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place debris and paper/cardboard in a glass jar with a metal lid. If a glass jar is not available, use a sealable plastic bag. (NOTE: Since a plastic bag will not prevent the mercury vapor from escaping, remove the plastic bag(s) from the home after cleanup.)
2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. Place the used tape in the glass jar or plastic bag.
3. Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes. Place the towels in the glass jar or plastic bag.
4. Vacuuming of hard surfaces during cleanup is not recommended unless broken glass remains after all other cleanup steps have been taken. [NOTE: It is possible that vacuuming could spread mercury-containing powder or mercury vapor, although available information on this problem is limited.] If vacuuming is needed to ensure removal of all broken glass, keep the following tips in mind:
   
   • Keep a window or door to the outdoors open;
   • Vacuum the area where the bulb was broken using the vacuum hose, if available; and
   • Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and seal the bag/vacuum debris, and any materials used to clean the vacuum, in a plastic bag.
   
   
5. Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of. Avoid leaving any bulb fragments or cleanup materials indoors.
6. Next, check with your local government about disposal requirements in your area, because some localities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center. If there is no such requirement in your area, you can dispose of the materials with your household trash.
7. Wash your hands with soap and water after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing bulb debris and cleanup materials.
8. Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off, as practical, for several hours.

Cleanup Steps for Carpeting or Rugs

1. Carefully scoop up glass fragments and powder using stiff paper or cardboard and place debris and paper/cardboard in a glass jar with a metal lid. If a glass jar is not available, use a sealable plastic bag. (NOTE: Since a plastic bag will not prevent the mercury vapor from escaping, remove the plastic bag(s) from the home after cleanup.)
2. Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder. Place the used tape in the glass jar or plastic bag.
3. Vacuuming of carpeting or rugs during cleanup is not recommended unless broken glass remains after all other cleanup steps have been taken. [NOTE: It is possible that vacuuming could spread mercury-containing powder or mercury vapor, although available information on this problem is limited.] If vacuuming is needed to ensure removal of all broken glass, keep the following tips in mind:
   
   • Keep a window or door to the outdoors open;
   • Vacuum the area where the bulb was broken using the vacuum hose, if available, and
   • Remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and seal the bag/vacuum debris, and any materials used to clean the vacuum, in a plastic bag.
   
   
4. Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of. Avoid leaving any bulb fragments or cleanup materials indoors.
5. Next, check with your local government about disposal requirements in your area, because some localities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center. If there is no such requirement in your area, you can dispose of the materials with your household trash.
6. Wash your hands with soap and water after disposing of the jars or plastic bags containing bulb debris and cleanup materials.
7. Continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off, as practical, for several hours
   

Future Cleaning of Carpeting or Rugs: Air Out the Room During and After Vacuuming

1. The next several times you vacuum the rug or carpet, shut off the H&AC system if you have one, close the doors to other rooms, and open a window or door to the outside before vacuuming. Change the vacuum bag after each use in this area.
2. After vacuuming is completed, keep the H&AC system shut off and the window or door to the outside open, as practical, for several hours.
   

Why is it important to clean up a broken CFL properly?

CFLs and other fluorescent light bulbs contain a small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. When a fluorescent bulb breaks in your home, some of this mercury is released as mercury vapor. To minimize exposure to mercury vapor, EPA recommends that residents follow the cleanup and disposal steps described on this page.



What if I can't follow all the recommended steps? or I cleaned up a CFL but didn't do it properly?

Don't be alarmed; these steps are only precautions that reflect best practices for cleaning up a broken CFL. Keep in mind that CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury -- less than 1/100th of the amount in a mercury thermometer.
However, if you are concerned about the risk to your health from a potential exposure to mercury, consult your physician.



courtesy of US EPA

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[Kevin Bourque]

We're all doomed...

[Tom Stenzel]

I remember about 15 years ago a friend of mine picked up a mercury detector from some surplus place. When set to it's most sensitive range it would pick up the mercury emissions from dental fillings. Drink something acidic, the readings went up. Liquid mercury in a dish could be detected but it was a really low level.

One day he was changing some standard 40 watt florescent tubes in his basement, several tubes fell and broke. While he was cleaning up the mess, he got out the detector just to see how much mercury there was in the air.

Set to the least sensitive range it was pinned upscale.

He opened windows, set up fans to air the room out. When the readings went down he went back to cleaning. After he vacuumed a few minutes, he looked and found the detector pinned upscale again. The vacuum cleaner was spewing the mercury around.

He did get the mess cleaned up using sulfur. I remember him remarking at the time that if a mercury thermometer was broken at a school, they'd evacuate the building. But if a janitor dropped a case of florescent tubes, no one would blink an eye - even though the exposure would be way higher.

The problem with florescent lamps and mercury has always existed. We just didn't pay attention to it.

-Tom Stenzel

[Greg Peterson]

The problem with florescent lamps and mercury has always existed. We just didn't pay attention to it.

As we learn or become aware of the hazards surrounding us, the smart ones will choose to act responsibly. I was explaining dust collection to my boss recently and the health hazards associated with fine dust. She scoffed at the notion that it could harm you and stated the obvious fact that life is full of risks.

I believe in mitigating known risks.

[Rod Sheridan]

Nothing new, except the newer lamps have far less mercury in them than the old lamps.

As always, proper clean up is the key.

As to the thermometer versus lamp with respect to mercury, there is much more mercury in a thermometer than in a case of lamps...........Rod.

[Bill Edwards(2)]

Won't be long and you'll just call a mercury abatement team.

They'll shave everyone in the house, including your pets.

Hose everybody down, ban you from the house, strip the target room bare,

take all your clothing, food and soft surface items for disposal.

Then send you a bill!

[Paul Brinkmeyer]

And yet, in my high school science class,(1968) our teacher gave each of us students a small amount of mercury to play with in the palm of our hands. About a spoon full. I had my mercury for a few years. Use to keep it in a empty prescription bottle, but every once in a while it did come out so I could push it around the kitchen table.

[Larry Browning]

Holy blankity blank!
This is just a bunch of rubbish!

Here's what you do to clean it up. Get a broom and sweep it into a dust pan, dump the contents of the dust pan into the nearest trash can. If it is in the carpet run the vacuum over it a couple times. DONE!
Go back to living your life.

I can't believe this thread was even started.

Paul,
How is it that you are even alive today to tell us your story?

[Rick Potter]

Like Paul, as a kid we used to get the mercury out of a broken thermometer and play with it. It was always miraculous to put a bit on a dime and see how much it shined. I hate to admit it, but I have thrown away dozens of flourescent tubes by putting them in a trash can, holding my breath, and breaking them with a hammer. In the old days, that WAS considered taking safety precautions.

Rick Potter

[Larry Browning]

Like Paul, as a kid we used to get the mercury out of a broken thermometer and play with it. It was always miraculous to put a bit on a dime and see how much it shined. I hate to admit it, but I have thrown away dozens of flourescent tubes by putting them in a trash can, holding my breath, and breaking them with a hammer. In the old days, that WAS considered taking safety precautions.

Rick Potter

I still follow that same procedure today. (Except the part about holding my breath)
And miraculously I am still alive and kicking! Will wonders never cease?

[Chuck Wintle]

We're all doomed...

yes doomed!

[Kevin Gregoire]

here are some pictures of someone that dropped a large bulb during changing and stepped on the pieces by accident
spent two weeks in icu fearing amputation. last picture is foot vacuum wrapped to continuously suck out dead tissue and contaminants.

[Belinda Barfield]

Yep, I played with mercury in high school, too. Our chemistry teacher kept it in a big brown glass jar on a shelf in the lab closet. My junior year I did an indepent study course in Microbiology and the same teacher was my advisor. I had a fascination with mercury and I actually played frequently with a pea sized amount in my palm. Now while this may explain some of my more idiosyncratic behavior, I'm still alive and kicking.

[mike holden]

In my High School, in the mid-60's, the chemistry prof asked us to bring in a shiny new penny the next day. We coated our pennies with Mercury and kept them in our pockets or in our penny loafers as good luck charms.
This is an example of overblowing the dangers. If you were to break all the lamps in a big box store at once, and then go to clean them up, then maybe these precautions might be of value. Otherwise -
Mike

[Larry Klaaren]

If you were to break all the lamps in a big box store at once, and then go to clean them up, then maybe these precautions might be of value. Otherwise -
Mike

Vaporized mercury, the form used in CFL bulbs, is a proven, verified health threat. It is a very very potent carcinogen, much more potent than asbestos. It would be very foolish to ignore this fact. Liquid mercury is not much of a health threat.

Larry