CFL Bulb Guide for Less Mercury in Our Homes

The Environmental Working Group has done it again. Have a mentioned lately how much I appreciate them?

They’ve just released a report and new guide for all of us about what CFL bulbs contain the least mercury. Let me back up.

Awhile back I posted on my blog Non-Toxic Kids about the mercury in those energy efficient CFL bulbs, what to do if you break one, and another post about where to recycle them.

We know that CFL bulbs save gobs of valuable energy and are the most responsible, greenest choice. But no one wants mercury, what we all avoid eating fish for (especially when pregnant), all over our house. So the folks at EWG have created a guide to the bulbs with the lowest amount of mercury in each, and a handy list of steps to follow if you do break a bulb.

Seems that these companies have committed to lessening the amount mercury, a dangerous neuro-toxin, in their bulbs, more so than our government has required. Turns out that Wal-mart, of all companies, was a leader on this issue (they do have lots of bad karma to try and work out). This post from Enviroblog shares more about the breakdown of the Energy Star ratings, the EPA and Wal-mart on the issue of mercury in CFL bulbs.

Here’s the handy guide from the Environmental Working Group. And here is how to write to Energy Star to ask that they lower the acceptable level of mercury in these bulbs to protect the health of our families.

image: Energy efficient CFL light bulbs by Cool nrg International on Flickr under Creative Commons