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Broken CFL?

What to do if a fluorescent light
bulb breaks

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is continually reviewing its clean-up and disposal recommendations for CFLs to ensure that the agency presents the most up-to-date information for consumers and businesses.

Fluorescent light bulbs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. EPA recommends the following clean-up and disposal guidelines:

1. Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more.
   
   
2. Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag.
   
   • Use disposable rubber gloves, if available (i.e., do not use bare hands). Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the plastic bag.
   
   • Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.
   
   
3. Place all cleanup materials in a second sealed plastic bag.
   
   • Place the first bag in a second sealed plastic bag and put it in the outdoor trash container or in another outdoor protected area for the next normal trash disposal.
   
   Note: Some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a local recycling center.
   
   • Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.
   
   
4. If a fluorescent bulb breaks on a rug or carpet:
   
   • First, remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner, following the steps above. Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.
   
   • If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag or vacuum debris in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.

Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency

Stats on efficient lights are illuminating

Why should South Carolinians switch to energy-efficient compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs?

• If every household in South Carolina changes just one incandescent light bulb to a CFL, the state could save up to 83 million kilowatt-hours of electricity, enough to light all the households in Columbia for 350 days.
  
  
• The amount of energy saved would reduce annual household electrical bills in South Carolina by a combined total of $6.4 million.
  
  
• The state would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by 131 million pounds, the equivalent of removing 11,000 cars from South Carolina roadways. End-to-end, this string of cars would stretch 32 miles.

Related Links

'Squirrelly' bulbs star in member's film »
EPA.gov clean-up and disposal recommendations for CFLs
Touchstone Energy Light Bulb Energy Saver »