I wasn't aware there was yet a way to recycle these bulbs? Am I mistaken?

Careful on taking the word of one government scientist. The methylation of inorganic mercury in the free environment occurs in lake and marsh sediments, mediated by anaerobic processes and release at seasonal "turnover".

JL, could you translate that into non-scientist speak?

I suppose that's the big problem with many of these complex issues. Too few people translate them :)

The deposit on CFLs is a good idea, but it's going to have to be substantial enough for anyone to participate - we may go through a lot of beer bottles, but how many CFLs is the average person going to replace in a year? Make the deposit too much, however, and it will turn some people away, as CFLs are already more expensive than the lights they're used to buying.

I'm hoping that in 5 years, when all the CFLs in my house are starting to expire, there'll be LEDs that work as well and are as affordable as present-day CFLs. Currently, the LEDs that I have were about $8 each (on eBay) and hardly give off enough light - perfect for the kids night lights, though.

Bacteria in the soils can turn inorganic mercury into methylmercury (to translate JL), so even mercury in elemental forms can cause problems. Also (sorry for the lack of citations) I just read that groundwater runoff contributes more mercury to the environment than atmospheric sources, so where does that leave this argument?

Here's a go at non-science translation, in hypothetical chronology style:

Mercury from coal comes out the stack as vapor, condensing or coalescing into small particle-like "aerosols" and falling out down wind.

Acid precipitation, caused largely by SOX and NOX from coal combustion, mobilizes the inorganic mercury or "elutes" it, such that it is soluble enough to move with runoff and groundwater, eventually making its way into a pond, marsh, or lake.

Once in the lake, the inorganic mercury precipitates, either chemically or bound ionically with organic material, building up in bottom sediments.

Anaerobic organisms in the sediments, in combination with iron and sulfur compounds also present, convert the inorganic to organic mercury forms which can enter the food chain directly, starting with bottom organisms, or be brought up into the water column after ice out in the spring, when spring winds are able to "turn over" the lake before summer stratification onset.

This is essentially how mercury gets in freshwater fish.

The meta- problem here is having scientists of narrow technical specialty backgrounds and no experience in temperate zone ecology make broad conclusions without inter-agency peer review. Let me restate this. Its a damn shame that EPA's talent is out of the loop. Much of the knowledge base upon which this logic is based would once have been found under the category "limnology" in the now closed EPA library system.

Footnote to other scientists. I have purposefully oversimplified these processes greatly, and left out important sub-processes for the sake of easy explanation.

You can recycle CFL bulbs at IKEA, not sure where else.

the maddening thing about this story is that it is just another excuse for people not to do anything, like the GE annoucement of the someday high efficiency incandescent. The amount of mercury is very small (the size of the ball in a bic pen) and if you buy your bulbs at IKEA or Home Depot like most people, how much trouble is it to take it back? why don't they build in a deposit and give a discount when you come in for another and bring in the old one? The entire argument is predicated on people being slobs. Furthermore lots of people and businesses have conventional fluorescents that have twice or four times as much mercury in them, are sold in quantities far greater than CFL's and nobody ever gives a damn how they are disposed of. Where did this issue come from all of a sudden?

Lloyd, if this story is used to tell people not to do anything, that argument should be countered. But as long as it is not, it is still a real story and the information should be out there so we can do something about it. I don't think that many people like mercury, either from coal or CFLs.

I don't think that managing information and hiding things that aren't convenient would be better in the long run...

the ace hardware stores in some states take cfls for recycling.

EPA listing of Hg recycling/collection services by state:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/mercury/collect.htm

Most stores that sell them will take them back for recycling. And many counties have programs to take them back too.

Look, even a little mercury can hurt you. If you break a bulb (or many, as in the case of my sister's house which was demolished by a tornado) you are at a health risk. Mercury levels build up in the body and cannot be reduced. It's ovbious to me that the short term health benefits of using incandescent bulbs are worth whatever miniscule environmental risk exists. When LEDs are ripe, in 5 years, I will get them. In the meantime there is no way I'm buying anymore CFLs. And I sure hope I don't break one that I've already bought.

I was reading that there's a lot more mercury in a watch battery than in a CFL.

What do you all do when you break a thermometer. You see the mercury on the ground and wonder how to deal with it so that your child or pet doesn't come into contact with it. If this is in a bulb that we are all forced to use and it shatters and spreads within a room, how can you be sure that you have removed the problem. Whether it is 2 ounces or the size of a bic pen, is there really a difference if you haven't cleaned up the problem. Do you think that everyone will properly dispose of these lights..let alone, be informed on their proper disposal. Think about if before you vote to have incandescents banned. I say buy a thousand incadescents and store up before they become black market items.

I know new technology is scary to many old people, so I'll put this simply. Do the research on Mercury products. For instance, your Volvo or BMW with it's convenience lights under the hood and trunk have switches that contain on average 1.2 grams of Mercury. Do the math on how many CFL's that would be. Here's a clue, older washing machines could contain up to 5 grams each. The old style furnace thermostats can have at least 1 gram. Oh, and as an added bonus, ABS brakes have mercury switches in them also, not as much per switch, but it's still a lot more than 1 CFL. Some car alarms also use mercury switches, now think about that when you get concerned over 1.2 to 6 milligrams in CFL. Seems like the lesser of 2 evils to me, time to embrace change old people.