CFL

[Chuck Guzis]

On 05/22/2017 07:52 AM, Diane Bruce via cctalk wrote:

> I never said I wasn't worried about both fluorescents and CFL's. I
> find it horrendous that people freak out over CFL's yet blithely 
> throw their fluorescents into the garbage without a thought; And yet 
> older fluorescents were far worse than modern CFL's. We are
> furiously agreeing they should both be handled properly.

I don't really want to contribute to perpetuating this thread, but I
wonder if there's more mercury in an amalgam dental filling (which many
of us have) than in a CFL.   And that mercury is in your mouth.

Mercury switches were unsurpassed for reliability--I miss them.
Mercury-wetted relays were also very reliable.  Calomel (Hg2Cl2) was
used as a treatment for syphilis, as a purgative and has a fungicide.

As a voltage reference, (e.g. in a Weston cell) it was quite valuable.

It amazes me that being old enough to have endured lead-based paint,
millions of automobiles spewing tetraethyl lead, mercury in my mouth,
Mercurochrome being painted on my scuffs and scratches, somehow I
managed to survive to my golden years.

--Chuck