William Sommerwerck wrote:

In my opinion, they should be outlawed world-wide. Period. Suddenly,
just as the government here in the UK looks set to ban sales of
incandescents, a movement is rearing up to bring to the attention of
the great unwashed (and the dumb politicians) the potential hazards
of using, accidentally breaking, and safely disposing of CFLs. I sincerely
hope that it gains sufficient momentum to cast enough doubt over this
dreadful knee-jerk technology, to knock its viability as a direct

replacement

for incandescents, firmly on the head...


The amount of mercury in any single bulb is small. And it's elemental
mercury, not an organic mercury compound, which is not as toxic as the
latter.

Why do you suppose elemental mercury has been so demonized in the U.S.,
such that glass thermometers, manometers, barometers, mercury switches,
classroom stores and much more are deemed hazards of the highest order
and subject to various recalls, seizures and hazmat raids? I had always
suspected that vastly more mercury is introduced into the environment
from burning coal than could ever reach the food chain from elemental
mercury containing devices.


We've been using fluroescent lamps for almost 70 years. Their presence
didn't seem to cause much in the way of environmental problems. Or scratched
hands.

Any idea on the amount of accumulated environmental contamination from lamp
tube disposal over the past 70 years? It was never uncommon to observe
commercial tubes being smashed into dumpsters for decades...

Regards,

Michael