What Do Fluorescent Light Bulbs Contain

Mercury is an essential element in the operation of fluorescent lighting.

What do fluorescent light bulbs contain.

It allows the bulbs to be an efficient light source. Read a full list of which bulbs contain mercury. Compact fluorescent light bulbs cfls and mercury. When a bulb breaks in your home some of this mercury may be released as mercury vapor.

To minimize exposure to mercury vapor epa recommends that residents follow the cleanup and disposal steps described on this page. Incandescent halogen and led bulbs do not contain mercury. The broken bulb can continue to. Yes all fluorescent lights including the compact fluorescents contain some amount of mercury.

What to do if a compact fluorescent light cfl bulb or fluorescent tube light bulb breaks in your home1 fluorescent light bulbs contain a small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. The facts about light bulbs and mercury july 11 2011 noah long compact fluorescent lights cfls use about a quarter of the electricity of traditional incandescent light bulbs reducing energy. Cfls and the other light bulbs listed above contain a small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing. Virtually all components of a fluorescent bulb including metal end caps glass tubing and phosphor powder can be separated and recycled.

Fluorescent tubes compact fluorescent germicidal blacklight metal halide and other hid light bulbs all contain mercury compounds. If you only have a few fluorescent light bulbs needing recycling you may be able to take advantage of your local county s household hazardous waste hhw drop off site. Because cfls contain trace amounts of mercury it is important to educate yourself on proper use recycling and disposal of these products. Compact fluorescent light bulbs cfls the recommendations on these pages apply to all mercury containing light bulbs.

Recyclers often sell the metallic portions as scrap metal. The facts about cfls and. A fluorescent lamp or fluorescent tube is a low pressure mercury vapor gas discharge lamp that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. When a fluorescent bulb breaks in your home some of this mercury is released as mercury vapor.

An electric current in the gas excites mercury vapor which produces short wave ultraviolet light that then causes a phosphor coating on the inside of the lamp to glow a fluorescent lamp converts electrical energy into useful light much more efficiently. Extreme care should be taken in both the handling of broken light bulbs and the disposal of burned out bulbs that contain mercury.