Broken CFL bulb? Don't call 911

[x635 4,066]

Interesting article out of my local paper. Has your department seen these types of incidents, and if so, how do you handle them?

Broken CFL bulb? Don't call 911

Austin firefighters offer guidelines on safe cleanup.

By Tony Plohetski

AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Monday, November 24, 2008

As a lieutenant in the Austin Fire Department's special operations division, Randy Hazelrig routinely responds to emergencies involving broken gas lines or chemical spills.

In the past couple of months, he's also responded to a new type of call that Austin firefighters say is on the rise: ones involving broken light bulbs.

FULL STORY: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news.../1124bulbs.html

[Monty 35]

Looks like a good article to me.

Maybe someone could approach the Journal on the same topic and help educate the community - with the offer to still help those that need it.

[ny10570 745]

maybe someone a little more versed in HazMat knows, whats the lower limit is for mercury abatement? I was on a job in the Bronx while back. A woman crushed a shopping bag full of CFLs in her baby's room. HazMat was called in and gutted the room of anything not a hard surface. Even took the carpet out.

[firemoose827 324]

Mercury...Its a relatively low dose contained in the CFL but if you break one there is a high potential to breath in a toxic dose as it vaporizes into the air. Here is a link to some information on Mercury for all of you to peruse.

Mercury Information

It has some good info.

My concern would be more from the Thermometers or Barometers that some people have in their houses. They have a higher concentration of Mercury than the CFL does, especially some of the older models. I remember my grandfather had a combination Thermometer/barometer hanging by his front door and he would always get mad when we played around it. Funny, I always thought it was because he liked the thing but he was concerned about the Mercury!