Fact Sheets
There are a few misconceptions surrounding the use of Compact Florescent Light (CFL) bulbs and questions and concerns regarding the operation, use, and safety of CFL bulbs. If you don’t see the answer to your question below, please feel free to contact us for more information.
- What to do if a bulb breaks
- CFL bulbs and mercury
- CFL bulbs and fire hazards
- CFL bulbs and UV radiation
- CFL bulbs and EMF radiation
What to do if a bulb breaks
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Compact florescent light (CLF) bulbs are made of glass tubing and can break if dropped or handled roughly. Each bulb contains a small amount of mercury and vapours can be released should the bulb break. Always screw and unscrew the lamp by its base – never forcefully twist the CFL into a light socket by the tubes/glass components.
To minimize any risks if a bulb does break, follow these guidelines, recently released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
- Before cleanup
- Have people and pets leave the room.
- Air out the room for 5 to 10 minutes by opening a window or door to the outside.
- Shut off your central forced air heating/air-conditioning (H&AC) system if you have one.
- Collect materials needed to clean up broken bulb.
- During cleanup
- Be thorough in collecting broken glass and visible powder.
- Place cleanup materials in a sealable container.
- After cleanup
- Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of properly.
- Avoid leaving any bulb fragments or cleanup materials indoors.
- For several hours, continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the H&AC system shut off.
For more information or to download a copy of the detailed EPA guidelines, please visit the EPA website.
For more information on how and where to recycle broken or burned out CFL bulbs, please visit: www.projectporchlight.com/content/cfl-recyclers
CFL bulbs and mercury
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Mercury is a naturally occurring element that can exist in a gaseous, liquid, or solid form.
Mercury is commonly used in consumer products to conduct electricity or to measure temperature and pressure. Mercury is found in products such as cosmetics, electrical switches, fluorescent bulbs and batteries. Mercury in products can be released to the environment through breakage or disposal at the end of a product's life.
Mercury is also concentrated in rock and released into the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions which accounts for approximately half of atmospheric mercury. The other half derives from human activity, 65% of which comes from stationary combustion sources, primarily coal-fired plants.
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Mercury is an essential ingredient for CFL bulbs. The amount of mercury in a CFL’s glass tubing is minute - each Project Porchlight CFL bulb contains 2.5 mg of mercury. By comparison, watch batteries contain about 25 mg, older home thermometers contain 500 mg and dental fillings contain 100 to 500 mg of mercury.
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Yes. We already live safely with many products that contain mercury. No mercury is released from a bulb unless you break it. Even if it does break the health risks are minimal but you should still take the proper precautions to minimize your exposure.
Every product containing mercury should be handled with care. The Canada Labour Code specifies:
The Ceiling Exposure Value (CEV), the maximum airborne concentration for mercury, that a worker can be exposed to at any time is 0.15 mg/m3 (http://www.on.ec.gc.ca/epb/fpd/fsheets/4021-e.html)
To put this value into perspective, a CFL containing 2.5 mg of mercury would have to break in a room smaller than 2.4 m x 2.4 m x 3 m (7.2’ x 7.2’ x 9’) to pose a health risk according to the Ceiling Exposure Value specified by the Code. If a bulb were to break in a space such as this, leaving the room and ventilating the area would reduce the mercury concentration to a safe level in about 15 minutes.
The real health-related risk from lighting comes from using energy-inefficient lighting like old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs. These wasteful types of lighting use high levels of energy, which in North America is often produced by coal and other non-renewable sources that emit mercury and other pollutants into the air we breathe and cause smog—major contributors to serious health risks. A 2008 study by the Ontario Medical Association found that air pollution is the cause of 9,500 premature deaths per year in Ontario alone.
CFL bulbs use up to 75% less energy than old-fashioned incandescent bulbs, thereby reducing harmful air pollution, smog and their associated adverse health effects significantly.
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Recycle your CFL bulbs. No mercury should go to landfills, including mercury in your old cell phones, watch batteries or in your dental fillings. Municipalities (town, city, or county office) offer disposal options. You can also bring spent bulbs to Home Depot stores, where all brands of CFL are collected free of charge and sent to a recycler.
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Why not just avoid the whole issue altogether and keep using incandescent bulbs? -
CFL bulbs actually present an opportunity to prevent mercury from entering our air, where it most affects our health. The greatest source of airborne mercury comes from combusted fossil fuels such as coal, diesel, and natural gas. A CFL uses 75% less energy than an incandescent light bulb and lasts at least 6 times longer. A power plant will emit 10 mg of mercury to produce the electricity to run an incandescent bulb compared to only 2.4 mg of mercury to run a CFL bulb for the same time. While it is possible to expose yourself to mercury in the case of a bulb breakage, it is certain that the extra energy required to fuel incandescent bulbs will release mercury into the air, which will find its way into rivers, streams, fish (among other animals) and humans.
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No. Even if your electricity is being generated by a non-emitting source, conserving electricity by using CFL bulbs means more energy is available for export to other grids, where it can displace fossil fuel generation and therefore reduce mercury (and GHG) emissions in that air we all share.
CFL bulbs and fire hazards
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Do compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs pose a fire hazard?
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No. Using CFL bulbs in your home actually reduces the threat of fire caused by lighting fixtures because CFL bulbs operate at lower temperatures than incandescent bulbs. Many fires have been caused by high wattage incandescent bulbs in ceiling fixtures melting insulation on wires, leading to electrical arching. CFL bulbs, regardless of wattage, do not get hot enough to melt surrounding materials.
Regardless of the type of bulb you are installing, CFL or incandescent, always turn the power off when you are changing light bulbs.
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Will mounting CFL bulbs in recessed fixtures pose a fire hazard?
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No. CFL bulbs do generate some heat when they are operated, but this does not mean they cannot be used in recessed or enclosed fixtures. While you should never mount a CFL in a 100% airtight fixture, they are safe to use in common household fixtures, recessed, enclosed, and otherwise. If a CFL bulb cannot be enclosed, it will specify this restriction on the ballast. The Globe Electric CFL bulbs Project Porchlight distributes are UL-certified safe to use in enclosed fixtures.
Some CFL bulbs will burn out prematurely when mounted in recessed and enclosed fixtures, as the infrared heat they produce does not dissipate optimally in this configuration. However, new Energy Star specifications are now designating fixtures that do not exceed the CFL’s maximum temperature requirements. By matching up ENERGY STAR certified fixtures with your CFL bulbs, you will get the full life out of your lamps.
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Always look for the UL symbol (UL with a small C beside it) on your CFL bulb; this is the logo of Underwriters Laboratory, the product compliance firm that evaluates plastics for flammability characteristics. UL certification is equivalent to CSA (Canadian Standards Association). In fact, CSA defers to the UL’s specifications as the best international standard. Also, always look for the ENERGY STAR logo on CFL packaging, because the specification means the product meets strict specifications for quality, including long life, colour and brightness as well as energy efficiency. The Globe Electric bulbs that Project Porchlight distributes are both UL and ENERGY STAR certified.
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It is normal for some CFL bulbs to smoke a little and even show signs of melted plastic on the ballast (the plastic base of the lamp) at the end of their lives. When CFL bulbs burn out, heat builds up in the ballast and the lamp’s safety feature kicks in: the Voltage Dependent Resistor (VDR) - an electronic component that cuts the circuit (like a circuit breaker).
In the nanoseconds it takes for the VDR to do its job, both it and the ballast might smoke a little. This is absolutely normal, and part of the lamp’s design. The Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) certifies CFL bulbs (including their VDRs) that are constructed with plastics that do not pose a fire hazard when overheated.
CFL bulbs and UV radiation
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Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum emitted by the sun. UV radiation also comes from unnatural sources, like lamps and tanning beds. Small amounts of UV are essential for the production of vitamin D in people, yet overexposure may result in negative health effects on the skin.
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Not much. While all fluorescent lamps emit some UV radiation, compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs typically emit very low levels of UV. These levels are not hazardous and are far less than the amount produced by natural daylight.
The level of UV radiation from CFL bulbs ranges from 50-140 microwatts/lumen. Some old-fashioned incandescent bulbs have been found to have levels exceeding 100 microwatts/lumen.
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Can the UV rays from CFL bulbs cause health–related problems?
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The results of a recent Health Canada study showed that UV emissions do not present a health risk to the general population when either CFLs or incandescent light bulbs are used at a distance of 30 cm or more. Health Canada recommends that people keep this minimum distance between themselves and any light source.
Although the amount of UV emitted by CFLs poses no problem for the average person, some people are extremely sensitive to UV. Those who have an auto-immune disease and certain skin conditions can be sensitive to the UV from CFLs. If you believe you are suffering from symptoms related to UV, you should consult your health care provider.
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Are there further precautions I can take to reduce the small levels of UV from CFL bulbs?
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While the glass used in standard single-envelope CFL bulbs (the curly shaped ones) already provides a UV filtering effect, there are now double-enveloped CFL bulbs available. These CFL bulbs have an additional glass or plastic cover, so they look like incandescent bulbs, and offer additional shielding from UV rays. Studies have shown that double-envelope CFL bulbs provide a further step to reducing the already low level of UV radiation in CFL bulbs to an even lower level, essentially emitting no UV light.
In addition to this, any glass, plastic or fabric found in your lighting fixture can provide another filter between you and the CFL bulb. And minimizing extremely close and/or prolonged direct exposure to CFL bulbs will further minimize any UV exposure.
CFL bulbs and EMF radiation
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Any product that is plugged into an electrical outlet is surrounded by EMFs, even if they are not turned on. This includes TV’s, radios, computers, toasters and appliances. EMFs are made up of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving together through space. Electric fields are produced by electric charges and magnetic fields are produced by the flow of current through wires or electrical devices. Some people are concerned about potential adverse health effects from EMFs.
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Like other appliances and equipment in your home, CFLs emit EMFs. Even if you are very close to a lit compact fluorescent, the EMF exposure rate is low as compared to those of other devices.
The following tables provide a comparison of average low-frequency EMFs.
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Should I be concerned about the health effects of EMFs from CFLs?
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According to Health Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO), CFLs are safe to use in light fixtures. Health Canada has made measurements of the EMFs at 20 centimetres from lamps, and when compared to departmental and international science-based guidelines, the levels of emissions are well below the maximum levels of exposure. Using the data from published scientific studies, Health Canada sets the general public exposure limits at 50 times lower than the threshold for adverse health effects.
Health Canada does not consider the EMFs from CFLs to be a health risk. This conclusion is in line with current international scientific opinion.
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Are there further precautions I could take to reduce the amount of EMFs from CFLs?
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EMFs are strongest when close to their source. As you move away from the source, the strength of the fields fades rapidly. CFLs are safe to use, but you should avoid sitting closer than 20 cm to a CFL.