Fluorescent lights convert electricity into illumination three to five times as efficiently as incandescent lights. Lamp life is far longer. While offering tremendous environmental advantages through energy savings, the disposal of used fluorescent lighting equipment raises serious environmental concerns.
Fluorescent lamps contain the toxic heavy metal mercury.
Doing the right thing from an environmental standpoint generally means incorporating fluorescent lighting into our buildings. But it also means properly dealing with disposal of any older fluorescent and HID lighting equipment that is being removed and minimizing any new toxics introduced. Fluorescent Lamps and Mercury Fluorescent lamps work by passing an arc of electricity through mercury vapor in the lamp. Thus energized, these phosphors emit the white light that we see. This mercury is instantly vaporized when the lamp is turned on, and it recondenses when the lamp is turned off.