CFL lights contain a small amount of mercury and must be disposed of in accordance with the regulations
for hazardous substances. LEDs, on the other hand, contain no heavy metal and can be safely disposed of
with common waste.
The mercury poisoning due to CFL lights is often underplayed. It is true that the amount of mercury in a
single CFL is only 5 mg and much more mercury is emitted by burning coal to provide electricity to
operate an incandescent bulb. However, if every light fixture were to be converted to CFL light, an average
household would dispose close to 10 CFL lights every year. Back of the envelope calculations show that
the 115 million households in the US will together release close to 5 tons of mercury in the environment
every year – contaminating rivers, landfills and ground water. LED bulbs comply with ROHS regulations
meaning that they do not have any of the toxic heavy metals like lead, mercury or cadmium.
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