What to do When Compact Fluorescents Crack

That is unbelievable. California wants to legislatively banish the incandescent bulb and replace them with these?

I can see it now. CFL will be the one thing that California will not claim causes cancer in California.

There is a point in time when you have to stop and say "let's stop and think for a minute, this is getting way out of hand".

As a precaution, consider discarding throw rugs or the area of carpet where the breakage occurred

OK, why not. Just to be sure I think I will burn down the living room. Gah, cannot... must......limit........carbon footprint.

Remove the container from your home and call your local solid waste district or municipality for disposal instructions.

At which point in time they will either tell you to throw it in the bin or that they don't want it in their landfill.

If this was written any stronger, would be terrorists might think that they could build a WMD out of them (it worked sooooo well with radiation sources out of the smoke detectors).

Anyway, back to the point. We have the same problem here - plans to ban incandescent bulbs but no clear plans to safely dispose of CFL's. Madness. Bring on efficient LED lighting so we can finally rest in peace.

Here in the UK our government has made it a criminal offence to use ordinary incandescent light bulbs after 2010!!!

You will not be able to buy ordinary light bulbs after that date, so many people including myself have begun to stockpile the old fashioned incandescent light bulbs. I travel a lot so I use an electric timer to switch on the light in the evening and switch it off again at 23:30. But I cannot do this when these new bulbs will be made compulsory, because you cannot use them with an electric timer. For years our government has told people that when away overnight to use a timer on one of the lights to deter burglars?

What now?

Spencer.

I'm just hoping I can still buy incandescents for my car headlights. Or are they discriminating against permanent fixtures?

<...cannot use them with an electric timer...>

The ones in the bothy here work fine. After all, what is an electric timer other than a switch tied onto a cuckoo-clock (no offence, Scapolie)?

WALOOB.

Why can't you use them on an electric Timer? I use them regularly so.....no problem at all....

CO2 insanity and hysteria making a worse problem and then forcing it on sensible people by law. Sounds more and more like a dictatorship.

I checked the GE lighting website and they gave the same basic cleanup procedure, albeit a little watered down, but they said don't vacuum and open windows.

That tells me that either there is danger from the bulbs them self or there is immanent danger of attorneys circling in the waters.

Please quit picking on the Hatters. That's my name and we are not all "mad"; well maybe we are a little bit irate.

Hi PlbMak.

I have another problem with these fluorescent lights, I cannot use them in my living room because they affect my eyesight!!! My eye specialist tells me I am not the only person that is adverely affected by these lights. One of the problems is UV radiation, this maybe a small amount but it nevertheless affects my eyes. But far more damaging to some peoples eyes is the 50hertz flikker?

If I am reading a glossy magazine under one of these fluorescent lights, my eyes start to itch and water. I was told by a researcher in the University of Birmingham that this was because of the minerals present in glossy paper returned the UV light to my eyes? These minerals were Barytes (Ba SO4) barium sulphate, and China Clay which is a mixture of hydrous aluminium oxides and silicates!

Since then I have used an ordinary incandescent light bulb in my living room, and wo and behold, my eyes are much better now.

Spencer.

Hello there! To be exactly honest, we use floury's mainly in the bathroom and kitchen. We have replaced some incandescents with compacts, but in the main, when I'm reading or when there are any art activities going on, we use a 150w daylight bulb! I'll have to stock up. Already I see the potential for a gov.com 'U' turn. Still, there's always fleabay!

Try a modern 1.3 watt LED (GU10 is good) in warm white, maybe this will be better for your eyes when reading, I find them really good, but I never see flicker anyway on anything, so I may not be a good judge.

(By the way, I am completely happy that I never see 50 Hz flicker on anything, it makes for a better life!!!)

<Has California banned Mascara yet?>

Dunno. It hasn't banned the hand-gun.

Well, I was trying not to froth too much!

If you accidentally break one in your house, stop eating off the floors immediately! only use the table, sweep up the mercury and take it to your disposal point to get rid of together with the rest of the tube and be more careful in the future.....

Found this on WIKIPEDIA.COM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_light#Disposal_and_recycling

[edit] Disposal and recycling

The disposal of phosphor and particularly the mercury in the tubes is an environmental issue. Mercury poses the greatest hazard to pregnant women, infants, and children. Governmental regulations in many areas require special disposal of fluorescent lamps separate from general and household wastes. For large commercial or industrial users of fluorescent lights, recycling services are available in many nations, and may be required by regulation. In some areas, recycling is also available to consumers. The need for a recycling infrastructure is an issue with instituting proposed bans of incandescent bulbs.

The amount of mercury in a standard lamp can vary dramatically, from 3 to 46 mg.^[17] Newer lamps contain less mercury and the 3-4 mg versions are sold as low-mercury types. A typical 2006-era 4 ft (122 cm) T-12 fluorescent lamp (i.e., F32T12) contains about 12 milligrams of mercury.^[18] In early 2007, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association in the US announced that "Under the voluntary commitment, effective April 15, 2007, participating manufacturers will cap the total mercury content in CFLs under 25 watts at 5 milligrams (mg) per unit. CFLs that use 25 to 40 watts of electricity will have total mercury content capped at 6 mg per unit."^[19]

A broken fluorescent tube is more hazardous than a broken conventional incandescent bulb due to the mercury content. Because of this, the safe cleanup of broken fluorescent bulbs differs from cleanup of conventional broken glass or incandescent bulbs. 99% of the mercury is typically contained in the phosphor, especially on lamps that are near their end of life.^[20] Fluorescent lamps manufactured many decades ago had phosphors that contained beryllium, which is toxic. One is not likely to encounter lamps this old.

In the early 1960's, I knew a man that worked as a janitor. He told me a story where he pricked his finger enough to bleed when he cleaned up a broken fluorescent bulb. He continued to get sicker with flu like symptoms over the next few months untill he could not even work. Finally, in a consult with the doctor, he remembered the fluorescent bulb incident and told the doctor. The doctor gave him an antidote for PHOSPHORE poisoning and he returned to normal health.

BE CAREFUL WITH Fluorescent lamps.

Maybe the manufactures could add a unbreakable saftey polycarbonet outer shell to contain the Fluorescent lamp chemical hazards.

My feelings is this

get, borrow or rent a high efficiency filtered Vacuum cleaner

empty it first

then vacuum the area

pick up the pieces place them and what you vacuum

and the vacuum filter

along with your respirator you used to vacuum it up with

your socks and shoes

and with any children, spouse , siblings , neighbors

pets or wild animals that has come in contact

into a plastic bag and seal each bag

by folding the end

sealing it using duct tape

place that bag inside another plastic bag and seal it

then place that bag inside a third plastic bag and seal it

Place it into a cardboard box

and mail it to your government of choice

include a brief message

the bulb broke

CFL do not have Mercury in them. However there are Mercury and Sodium bulbs in use. Most of the CFL may contain toxic Lithium based phosphors that give that bright white color. It is also true with most of the Fluorescent tubes as they have UV to light converter toxic Fluorescent phosphor/s.

Lithium is toxic.