Facts About Light Bulbs

Light bulbs come in many forms and are referred to in the industry as “lamps.”

Lamp Types

Tube-style Fluorescent Lamps

Commonly used as overhead lighting in office buildings, these lamps also come in compact shapes for a variety of other uses for both the home and office.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)

CFLs are smaller versions of the standard tube-style fluorescent lamps and can be used in place of standard incandescent lamps. CFLs are more energy efficient and last longer than incandescent lamps. These lamps contain levels of mercury that require proper disposal and special cleanup if broken.

Mercury Vapor Lamps

These are the original high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps with blue/white light. They were originally designed for farmyard lighting.

Metal Halide Lamps

These are newer, more efficient HID lights found in homes, businesses and institutions. They are also used for headlights and can be spotted by their bright, blue-tinted light.

High-Pressure Sodium-Vapor Lamps

These lamps generate white-yellow light used for street lamps and outdoor security lighting.

Ultraviolet Lamps

Typically used in water and air purifiers for germicidal purposes, these lamps are also used in some tanning salons.

What’s the Deal With Mercury?

Some lamps include mercury and are regulated by local governments as it relates to proper disposal. Throwing your burnt-out lamps in the trash is not only dangerous, but illegal. In such states as California, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and many more, it is unlawful for anyone to dispose of fluorescent lamps as universal waste. If you’re looking for somewhere to drop your spent CFL, you can recycle CFLs using Earth911.

• Every year, about 600 million fluorescent light bulbs are disposed of in U.S. landfills.
• This amounts to about 30,000 pounds of mercury waste.
• These bulbs can break and the vapors can harm not only workers, but also the environment through seeping into groundwater.
• In 1992, mercury containing bulbs were added to the U.S. EPA’s  list of hazardous substances. Five years later, they moved to number three on that list.