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Mercury/Phosphorus Effects |
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What effects do chemicals in CFLs
have on the environment? |
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Mercury
Its most toxic forms include mercury vapour and
methyl-mercury and both are found in CFLs. When it enters the environment it does not decompose or
disappear over time because it is an elemental (pure) substance. This means it will continue to build up over time in
the environment, getting to dangerous levels because it is virtually
impossible to remove. Mercury is harmful to any living thing as it damages
parts of the body on a cellular level and stop the body working properly. Humans can have mercury enter their bodies a number of
ways, such as breathing in its vapour or drinking water polluted with mercury. The most common way mercury enters a human’s body
is because people eat fish from a waterway contaminated with mercury. Mercury
affects aquatic life because it can seep through ground and into water ways,
especially if a landfill it situated close to a waterway. Aquatic
life, living in either fresh or salt water polluted with mercury, is usually
smaller than regular organisms of that species, and will probably have
physical deformities, issues with
reproduction, and a shorter life time. All types of aquatic life are affected by mercury
including native Mercury accumulates in the bodies of small fish because
it is absorbed by a normal process into their cells. This mercury stays in their bodies and is passed into
the body of anything that eats them. Therefore, the higher up the food chain, the higher the
quantities of mercury. Mercury affects the central nervous system and the
brain, in humans, and is a real danger to younger people as it can effect
their development. A pregnant woman who is exposed to mercury can pass it,
and its damaging effects, on to her unborn baby. This may cause birth
defects. The problem with mercury in CFLs
is that it is released into the environment when the bulb breaks or is disposed
of incorrectly. Mercury vapour can be
breathed in from a broken bulb or if the bulb breaks in a landfill the
mercury inside the bulb ends up in the environment. The amount of mercury contained in one bulb is not seen
as much of a problem because it is so small (less than is used daily in a
dentist surgery or than is emitted during the production of fossil fuel
power). But when a number of bulbs break or are disposed of
incorrectly after failure, the mercury from all these bulbs begins to build
up in the environment to potentially dangerous levels. This is why bulbs which fail must be sent to a
hazardous waste recycling centre. There is only one company able to recycle CFLs, throughout However some stores are willing to take back failed
bulbs and store them until they have enough to recycle which is more
economical. Another point to note is that some bulbs claim they use
amalgam instead of mercury in the bulb tube however amalgam is a substance
which contains mercury and studies have shown that the mercury in amalgam can
and does escape in the form of mercury vapour meaning that amalgam can be just as dangerous. It has also been argued using incandescent bulbs releases
more mercury into the environment than CFLs because
they require more power. If this power is coming from fossil fuels this
claim is justified because fossil fuel power does emit mercury into the
environment, (more than is contained in a single CFL) however this claim is
irrelevant in areas, like New Zealand, which uses alternative energy sources,
like such as hydro, wind and solar power. For more information on the affect of mercury see the
links on the further reading page. Phosphorus Phosphorous is an elemental substance which is used in
small quantities in CFLs with mercury to make the
ultra-violet light (produced by the mercury) visible. There are a number of different forms of phosphorus and
each can have reaction with certain environmental conditions to become
another type or compound. Many forms of phosphorus and its naturally occurring organic compounds
are toxic and therefore hazardous to the environment. The most dangerous form of phosphorus is white
phosphorus. White phosphorus causes can burn your skin. It can also spontaneously
combust with air. If Yellow phosphorus (a mix of red and white
phosphorus) is ingested it causes severe liver problems Fluorophosphate
esters are
highly toxic to the environment and poison living things. Red Phosphorus gives off highly toxic fumes. Phosphorus is not as dangerous as mercury because it is
more easily removed from the environment than mercury and has forms which are
not dangerous. For more information about the affects of phosphorus
see the links on the further
reading page.
If a CFL overheats and melts or fails in another way
which causes its casing to melt toxic chemicals are released into the
environment because of the decomposition of the plastic. For more information on the effects of chemicals given
off by melting plastic see the links on the further
reading page.
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