Fluorescent Tube Ban Sept 2023

[John Walliker]

Interesting that you mention Heathrow Airport in this context. I once went for a job interview at a research lab which was at the end of one of the main runways there. It was very strange watching Concorde accelerating straight towards you and then thundering just overhead. I asked why the vacancy had arisen. It turned out that somebody had been carrying an explosive explosion suppressor when the bursting diaphragm failed. These devices were designed to extinguish an explosion in its early stages by using an explosive charge to burst a metal plate holding back a brominated hydrocarbon which was propelled towards the explosion front by very high pressure nitrogen. The person carrying it did not survive. (The products were used in military vehicle fuel tanks, aircraft and places like flour mills.) John

[Andrew Gabriel]

Yes, SSE have to replace the lanterns with LEDs when they die. It's a shame since they're all quite new, and I don't suppose all the DALI remote controlled dimming ballasts they're on were particularly cheap either. Those tubes have been unavailable for some time because they're already banned in the EU, and no one bothered continuing to manufacture them just for the little old UK.

Andrew

[Andrew Gabriel]

18 months ago, I moved my dad out of the home they bought before I was born. In the loft are still a pair of 5' 80W T12 fluorescents with bayonet cap tube ends. There had been a spare tube in the loft too, but some builders managed to smash it. Those had 40mg of mercury in them, versus the 5-8mg in a modern fluorescent tube or the 3mg in a compact fluorescent retrofit. Mind you, compared with the average of 3g of mercury in each body burned in a crematorium, they're all next to nothing.

Andrew

[The Natural Philosopher]

I've got a mercury thermometer - that's got shitloads. So what?

It's all this f****ng ArtStudent™ Boolean Bandar Logic.

"If you eat a 100g of mercury, you will die, so any mercury is dangerous and will kill you"

No, it wont. There is a magical concept, unavailable to the Boolean ArtStudent™ mind, called 'Quantity'...a glass of water will save your life, an ocean full will kill you. Geddit?

[The Natural Philosopher]

It all makes work for the working man to do.

[Animal]

OTOH they were a real improvement on mercury discharge, and I doubt folks had a crystal ball on LED development. LED lighting was widely predicted, but it was one of those things that had long been predicted and still not happened. Then it did.

[Rod Speed]

Its fine to do that, but you need to turn the on off valve that it screws into first. You do that with every new cylinder of gas.

[Brian Gaff]

Well, the question is is this all sorts, or just the cfl ones. However its very difficult to get any types now, so I would imagine they will be gone in any case. They are difficult to transport without breaking them. As a matter of interest what is it about them which makes them hazardous? I know a few used mercury in their manufacture, but the basic principle is ionise a gas, produce UV or other radiation which makes the coating give visible light. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

I don't see an issue, as surely all it will need is a note that the tubes must be replaced by led versions. You don't want to suddenly send the general public out with their old tubes all at once, it would cause problems for recyclers and put huge stresses on makers, suppliers and those who convert fittings. Brian

[Rod Speed]

Brian Gaff [e-mail] wrote

All of them.

Bullshit with CFLs.

The mercury in them.

In fact they all do.

And they use mercury to do that.

[Joe]

That would not be the government's problem. The edict on heat pumps is impossible to fulfil, but that hasn't bothered the government.

[Mark Carver]

They were, though in our road we had high pressure sodium, and they are not a patch on that.

We didn't have high pressure sodium for very long. Up until about 2004, we had low pressure sodium (a much deeper and dimmer orange glow) Then they replaced the old (well, 1980s) zinc coloured lamp posts with new lime green ones in 2004, but in 2008(?) replaced with CFLs

[The Natural Philosopher]

I think it was in 'Round the Horne' or possibly "Hhhancocks half-hour" where the police cadet is asked 'what is the point, of point duty?' "to stop the traffic, in order to issue them with parking tickets, sir!"

Making your entire nation guilty of a crime is a favourite government game

[SteveW]

We've got even more in our mercury barometer.

[gareth evans]

In the first year general science classes (Nailsea Grammar School, 1962) we were given some mercury to chase around the benches in front of us!

[Tim Streater]

I think generally we do a bit better that that. It's in the USA where road traffic signage and regulations are designed to maximise the chance of your becoming an administrative criminal when travelling from A to B.

I've already posted previously about the legalised banditry that they (or local government, anyway) practice there.

[Rod Speed]

And that's why you are barking mad now |-(

[Joe]

That would be only a tiny amount of vapour. You'd have to be a hatter to become as mad as one.

[Rod Speed]

That was a joke, Joyce.

[gareth evans]

Doc I keep thinking I'm a little dog. .....How do you feel now? Ruff!