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I thought the phosphor was toxic, some heavy metals or .....

I stand corrected on mercury

... Do regular fluorescent tubes(lamps) contain mercury and phosphorous?? I'd heard that the gas was argon(an inert gas)??? If this is so,should fluorescent lamps be specially discarded?? ie; reclamation sites,etc??
Russ

Flourescent lamps contain mercury.Raise your hand if you've smashed'em by the hundreds in dumpsters. In Maine, we have to be certified, carry a clean up kit and store all used bulbs in a locked room and then pack up for recycling. Costs me 11 cents a foot to dispose of tubes, 2.00 bucks for Metal halide, sodium etc.

If TV CRTs are anything like computer monitor CRTs they can't be broken, at least not in any Im/Ex-plosive way. We used to throw them in the dumpster all the time and we couldn't get more than a "whoomp/crunch/hiss" sort of thing. They have a plastic membrane in the glass like a windshield. The thing just becomes a bag of broken safety glass ... after lots of abuse.

CRTs have a frame work inside of them to prevent emplosion. It's been required since the "60s" They don't explode because there under a vacume. Most garbage companys in my area will pick them up if the little glass tube that sticks out on the back of the neck is broken (it's in the middle of the socket). This is the tube that is used to evacate and charge the CRT with argon when manufactured.