Be careful of those compact fluorescent light bulbs!

Is it true that compact fluorescent light bulbs contain harmful mercury?

Compact fluorescent lights contain a very small amount of mercury, significantly less than those in fever thermometers. This small amount of mercury slowly bonds with the phosphor coating on the lamp interior as the lamp ages, prohibiting its entry into the atmosphere. Even breaking a fluorescent bulb is not a significant health risk because the amount of mercury vapor released is so small that it dissipates into the air with a minimal chance of inhalation.

What is the proper way to dispose of burned-out compact fluorescent light bulbs?

Though compact fluorescent light bulbs are exempt from Environmental Protection Agency and State of Washington regulations, Tacoma Power recommends that you dispose of burned-out bulbs as you would batteries, motor oil or oil-based paint. City of Tacoma and Pierce County residents can dispose of household hazardous waste, including burned-out compact fluorescent light bulbs, at the City of Tacoma Landfill Household Hazardous Waste Collection Site.

Disposal of CF Bulbs

CF bulbs contain about 4 milligrams of mercury sealed in the glass tubing of the bulb (roughly equivalent to the tip of a ball-point pen). Mercury vapor converts electricity into light. No mercury is released when the bulbs are in use. (If a CF bulb breaks, your greatest risk is getting cut from glass shards and not from the very small amount of mercury.) For more information, visit Energy Star's web site on mercury (.pdf format)

Mercury is most toxic when it leaches from landfills into the water and then into fish. Therefore, compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs or fluorescent tubes must NOT be thrown away with your regular garbage (per Seattle Municipal Code 21.36.026). Please visit www.takeitbacknetwork.org for a list of retailers that will take your fluorescent bulbs and tubes and recycle them. The King County List is here: www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/takeitback/fluorescent/

[...] Still, even if the amount of Hg in the bulb is not actually a problem, I'm wary of anything that requires people to dispose of it properly (like cell phone batteries, fer instance). How many people, even if they are aware of the need for proper disposal, are actually going to go to the lengths required to do so? Certainly it seems to me that any government that mandates the use of these bulbs should have to ensure their safe disposal, as well...