Eco-friendly light bulbs flip switch on problems

An energy-efficiency measure is turning into a ticking green time bomb.

The federal government plans to require consumers over the next several years to replace incandescent light bulbs with more expensive but more energy-efficient and longer-lasting compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs).

But improper disposal of the mercury-powered bulbs poses an environmental hazard, and the federal government has given little guidance to consumers. The outlets for safe disposal are few and haphazard, and history suggests that compliance will be spotty.

“The problem to the environment comes when millions get disposed of and the cumulative effect becomes problematic. That is when the [Environmental Protection Agency] gets concerned,” said Neal Langerman, a former chairman of the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Health and Safety. “If you have a municipal urban landfill and have a population of 450,000 households disposing of one or two CFLs a year - you do the arithmetic. Put one-half milligram of mercury per bulb, it amounts to a significant loading, and mercury does migrate into groundwater.”

Although California has banned CFLs from trash since 2006, local governments there estimate that less than 10 percent of CFLs receive proper disposal and recycling, said San Francisco’s KGO-TV.

Revised standards for home appliances and lighting under the December 2007 energy bill require incandescent light bulbs - the basic model that has been used for 130 years - to be phased out in order to achieve about 25 percent greater efficiency for bulbs by 2014 and about 200 percent greater efficiency by 2020.

Without organized programs to educate consumers on safe handling and disposal of used or broken bulbs, landfills are likely to become even more polluted, Mr. Langerman told The Washington Times.

“The appropriate thing for us as a nation is not to dispose but have an aggressive take-back program,” said Mr. Langerman, who advocates a profit incentive for recycling, a system where “if you go out of your way [to safely dispose or recycle the bulbs] you get some money back. People will do this if made convenient.”

The federal Web site Energy Star (www.energystar.gov) notes that each CFL bulb contains an average of 4 milligrams of mercury, compared with the 500 milligrams contained in old-style glass thermometers. None of the mercury is released in operation, and leakage is a risk only if the bulbs are broken.

The site says “electricity use is the main source of mercury emissions in the U.S.,” so it’s important that CFLs use less electricity than incandescent lights. The EPA says that “a 13-watt, 8,000-rated-hour-life CFL (60-watt equivalent; a common light bulb type)” will save enough energy over its lifetime to offset even all of its mercury leakage into landfills.

EPA spokeswoman Tisha Petteway wrote in an e-mail: “Once a CFL or a fluorescent lamp is at the end of its life, EPA strongly encourages Americans to recycle it.”

The CFLs sold at supermarkets and drugstores have small warnings that the bulbs contain mercury. A 13-watt model from General Electric Co. does not elaborate on the risks beyond telling consumers to “manage in accord with disposal laws.” The packaging refers buyers to a recycling information Web site (www.lamprecycle.org) and provides a toll-free phone number.

Breaking a thermometer “can raise mercury levels in a tight bedroom to high enough levels to cause symptoms in a child in a short amount of time,” Mr. Langerman said. “The biggest difference is the amount of ventilation.”

No federal mandate requires households to recycle or safely dispose of such bulbs. The massive energy bill in Congress offers no guidance on the question of disposal, and the subject has generated little discussion during debate. That leaves this issue subject to a hodgepodge of state and local rules, some more serious than others about regulation.

The EPA gives consumers advice about finding safe disposal and recycling facilities across the country on its Web site www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/wastetypes/universal/lamps/live.htm.

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