Lightbulb disposal limited

Viewed as the eco-friendly successor to incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lights are not without their own environmental problems.

While it uses perhaps a quarter as much electricity as an equally bright incandescent bulb, thus reducing greenhouse gas pollution from power plants that contributes to global warming, fluorescent lighting does contain trace amounts of mercury, a toxic pollutant.

For environmentalists, the choice is clear, though.

"It's absolutely a good idea to use fluorescents because they are using such a low amount of electricity. You are cutting down on pollution at the power plant level," said Lorenzo Macaluso, a waste management specialist with the Center for Ecological Technology in Northampton, a conservation group.

"But you have to be careful about how you dispose of them. While manufacturers are getting better at making them with less mercury, unfortunately some mercury is essential to make the light work," he said.

Two weeks ago, a coalition of industry and environmental groups called for incandescent bulbs to be phased out in the United States during the next decade in favor of a new generation of energy-efficient lighting products, including low-mercury fluorescent lights.

However, because of the mercury content in fluorescent products, Massachusetts and most other states restrict their disposal.

Mercury is a persistent pollutant that can enter water bodies and collect in fish tissue. If mercury is ingested by humans in a high enough concentration, damage to the central nervous system can result. Because of high readings of mercury in Massachusetts ponds, lakes and rivers, the state issued a health advisory in 2001 warning pregnant women, women of child-bearing age, nursing mothers and children not to eat meals of freshwater fish caught in state waters.

Right now in Massachusetts, it is not illegal to dispose of the fluorescent bulbs lowest in mercury, identified by their green end caps, in the trash. However, under draft regulations being considered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, no fluorescent light, even if it is a low-mercury product, could be disposed of in landfills or burned in trash incinerators beginning in May 2008.

"The state has a zero-mercury strategy. In the long term, we want to eliminate mercury in the environment," said Eva V. Tor, a spokeswoman for the department.

"However, the use of fluorescent products is not being phased out because of their energy efficient properties," she said.

Even now, most cities and towns require fluorescent bulbs to be disposed of as hazardous waste, and some charge a fee for that disposal. Disposal methods vary by community, and people are advised to contact their local recycling officials for instructions.

While Northampton allows residents with recycling stickers to dispose of compact fluorescent lights for free, Amherst charges residents $1 for disposal of each bulb.