Is it safe ?

[Robb]

Is it safe to have so many CRT TV's in your house ?
I have around 20 tv's now and someone said the mercury and lead in them is harzardous even when not in use ?

[Sandy G]

Well, I got at least a DOZEN right here in my office, & I AIN'T too worried..

[Eric H]

Unless you're going around licking the tubes or using them for Wine Decanters then they are safe.

I think the issue is when they are busted up and ground to bits, then the Lead can leach out into the ground and cause contamination.


Here's an interesting article on Lead leeching in CRT's. I've never heard anything about Mercury in CRT's, LCD flat panels do have mercury, probably in the fluorescent back lighting. AFAIK Plasmas contain neither Lead or Mercury.

http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php....html?gid=4865

[NoPegs]

Originally Posted by Eric H

Unless you're going around licking the tubes or using them for Wine Decanters then they are safe.

There's an untapped market here I think... Obviously the only "sane" way to do this is to use a pre-war pyrex tube, but people still drink from "lead crystal" vessels so I'd venture that after cleaning out the phosphors and getter etc with some stiff acid any standard CRT envelope would be reasonably safe. Could possibly require annealing but since we're not trying to do it while pulling a vacuum on it I think that's a trivial task...


To make some sort of worthwhile contribution to this thread.

Remember that "Asbestos" is a label applied to a whole lot of compounds. It's like saying "oil." Not every type of asbestos is the highly frangible type that makes all the nasty particles that set up shop in your lungs. Some of it is as safe as fibreglass in terms of exposure hazard. Also remember that the majority of people who have developed health issues from asbestos exposure worked with it on a daily basis with minimal PPE in place. Unless you play scratch-n-sniff with it every day or put it in a blender and snort it, you're probably more likely to win the powerball jackpot than you are to get asbestosis from the rockwool pad above your chassis.

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by NoPegs

There's an untapped market here I think... Obviously the only "sane" way to do this is to use a pre-war pyrex tube, but people still drink from "lead crystal" vessels so I'd venture that after cleaning out the phosphors and getter etc with some stiff acid any standard CRT envelope would be reasonably safe. Could possibly require annealing but since we're not trying to do it while pulling a vacuum on it I think that's a trivial task...

Imagine if CRTs had been annealed to begin with, they would be impossible to air out without an implosion. Of course those granular chunks of glass are far less likely to cause injury than shards. The pane of tinted glass that mounted in front of the screen on the 1986 Hitachi console I had briefly had been toughened; I was surprised when I threw it into the dumpster on top of the giant trash bag that contained the aired-out CRT and the pane didn't break. Throwing a brick in on top of it solved the mystery as to why.

[Sandy G]

The WORST hurt I ever got from a TV was liftin' that 36" Sony all by my lonesome..My back filed a Grievance & stayed out for about a week..

[zeno]

Not to worry.
I spent my adult life surrounded by TV's. The shop would
have new stock stacked to the roof, showroom 30 more, repairs
stacked 3 high everywhere, 2 high under the bench & another
bunch on the bench opened up & running one foot away.
Easily over 100 at a time in 800 sq ft.
Six days a week, 50+ hrs a week, 300 days a year for 35+ years.
You have a better chance of being abducted by aliens than
being harmed by them IMHO.

73 Zeno

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

The WORST hurt I ever got from a TV was liftin' that 36" Sony all by my lonesome..My back filed a Grievance & stayed out for about a week..

Holy shee-it, I recently team-lifted one of those 216.5 pound monsters. Even with the other guy, it was the hardest lift I have ever experienced.

BTW, as Carmine said before, the lead cannot leach out of the glass. If it's good enough to seal up and dispose of radioactive waste (vitrification), it's good enough to contain the minute amounts of lead in TV screens.

[Sandy G]

[QUOTE=KV-1926R;3097793]Holy shee-it, I recently team-lifted one of those 216.5 pound monsters. Even with the other guy, it was the hardest lift I have ever experienced.

Oh, yeah... I saw Lightnings, moons, stars, planets 'n' Chit when I picked that Bad Boi up by my Lonesome... I was maybe 42 or 43 then, a good 15 years LATER than I shoulda been tryin' Stupid Stuff like that...Realising that you're NOT the strong, invincible, bullet proof Stud Muffin you were when you were in your twenties is sometimes a hard lesson to learn..

[Jon A.]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Oh, yeah... I saw Lightnings, moons, stars, planets 'n' Chit when I picked that Bad Boi up by my Lonesome... I was maybe 42 or 43 then, a good 15 years LATER than I shoulda been tryin' Stupid Stuff like that...Realising that you're NOT the strong, invincible, bullet proof Stud Muffin you were when you were in your twenties is sometimes a hard lesson to learn..

I hurt my back lifting a 19" set when I was a kid of about 11. Walked with a limp for a few days. No idea how you even managed to start picking up a set that big. I'd have to air the CRT and then break it up.

[bandersen]

Originally Posted by KV-1926R

...BTW, as Carmine said before, the lead cannot leach out of the glass. If it's good enough to seal up and dispose of radioactive waste (vitrification), it's good enough to contain the minute amounts of lead in TV screens.

A typical big TV CRT contains about five pounds of lead. Here's a study on the leachablility of lead from CRTs and part of the conclusion.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...0tBEZceQqHU1bA

Cathode ray tubes (CRTs) are often referred to as being a hazardous waste because of the leaded glass they are constructed of. This fact, however, is not well documented in the scientific literature. A study was conducted to determine the validity of this claim and to produce such documentation. A total of 36 CRTs were tested for lead leachability using the U.S. EPA’s toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). In initial testing, twenty-one of the thirty color CRTs exceeded the 5 mg/l of lead regulatory limit for characterization as a hazardous waste.

None of the six monochrome CRTs exceeded this limit. Follow-up testing demonstrated that by far the largest concentration of leachable lead is from the frit seal between the funnel and the face panel. The amount is large enough that if a representative glass sample from a color CRT is tested with the TCLP, it will in almost all cases exceed 5 mg/l of lead.

[consoleguy67]

Unless they fall on you, you should be OK.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by Robb

Is it safe to have so many CRT TV's in your house ?
I have around 20 tv's now and someone said the mercury and lead in them is harzardous even when not in use ?

Who is "someone"? An expert, a friend, a fool, or a combination of the above? Ask them to verify their source of this rumor to see if it has any legitimacy.

.

[Jon A.]

Probably the same kind of guy who had no idea what I was talking about when I tried to explain amps to him when he was picking out a wall-wart for a device he didn't bring along. I left a Sony Walkman there when I saw that someone fed it 15 volts AC just because the plug fit when it actually required 3 volts DC.

[dr.ido]

Heh... When a set you want it sitting there for the taking you move it somehow and suffer the pain later.

Whether it was push/pulling/dragging console sets home from school as a kid or loading 34" CRTs and later 50" Plasmas into the back of the car by myself.

It does catch up with you. Lately I've left a few where they lay (nothing rare or significant) rather than deal with the pain.