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Mercury Poisoning In CFLs
Posted by: Alistair MacdonaldImagine our horror when my partner dropped a CFL which shattered on the kitchen floor. We had only heard the rumours that they contained mercury and as such were considered hazardous waste. As Shona is 8 months pregnant we were a little apprehensive about how to approach the situation - keeping the kids out of the kitchen was obviously step 1, opening the garden door step 2 and letting me do the sweeping up step 3 (whilst holding my breath) - a quick google brought up this delight from teh Daily Express: 
A bit more googling found me the more sober advice from DEFRA and the reassurance that the mercury content in a single CFL was unlikely to cause much harm.
Since the revelation that mercury is contained in CFLs it would seem that they are now treated as hazardous waste and local councils are obliged to assist in disposal (also retailers are obliged to take them back!!) - so a trip to the dump? Or a trip to B & Q? I might try B&Q and see what happens...
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