Mercury is the most toxic pollutant, after radioactive substances, on the Environmental Protection Authority's list of industrial pollutants.
Spent lighting products are the largest source of mercury contamination in municipal landfills.
Fluorescent light tubes contain approximately 20mg of mercury per tube.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs also contain a remarkable amount of toxic mercury - 4mg to 6mg per bulb.
Each 4mg of mercury can contaminate 6,000 gallons of fresh water.
150,000 gallons of water pour over Niagara Falls each second.
That’s more than 45 trillion gallons a year, the same amount of water that mercury from discarded fluorescent bulbs in the U.S. can contaminate in one year.
