User talk:Dancers3
Compact fluorescent lights
[edit]I've replied here because article talk pages are really for improvements to articles, not for general discussion. All fluorescent lights contain mercury because the vaporized mercury is what conducts and sustains the electric arc that causes the fluorescence of the phosphors on the outside of the lamp, turning the ultraviolet light of the arc into visible light. The straight 48" fluorescent tubes most people are familiar with contain more mercury than CF lights because they are physically bigger. I haven't heard of health problems from the manufacture of fluorescent lights - it's an automated process, so nobody should be handling the stuff - not like, say, hatters (as in the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland), whose behavior was caused by mercury poisoning, used in felting hats in the 19th Century.
Overall, CF lights contain less mercury than is emitted by the burning of coal to produce the extra power needed for an incandescent light over its lifetime. Acroterion (talk) 21:27, 18 April 2008 (UTC)
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