Bit of a health warning; very worrying...

[solo]

See here for your information.

This is an American site that I subscribed to years ago and is very informative ~ so much more so than anything I've personally found in the UK.
Why aren't we told of these dangers?
Time to stock up on the ordinary light bulbs before they go out of production me thinks, but what do you think?

[rinabean]

Sorry, but this looks like total nonsense to me.

[solo]

I don't know...I do remember in the 'good old days' of tube lighting, that it was dangerous if they were broken, so maybe it's not nonsense...

[nightcat]

I do agree with most of the article, I'd say you need to use your common sense as you go through life rather than follow the herd. I can't work by the energy-saving lights.

[solo]

I've always hated them ~ though they have improved no end over the years and aren't as dull as they once were...
Still worrying if they get broken though.

[rinabean]

There's no such thing as "dirty electricity". The stuff about night time is stupid, too - don't sleep with the lights on? If you live in a city like I do night is almost as light as the day anyway. Isn't that why so many women have weird menstrual cycles nowadays, because the night isn't just lit by the moon?

"He emphasised that the study did not prove that using eco-friendly light bulbs late at night or overnight resulted in higher breast cancer rates than using filament bulbs, and that it remained an unproven theory." Even this article admits that.

"As if the danger to our health by using the CFL?s isn?t enough, the bulbs also contain mercury.

When they break or of disposed of improperly, exposure to this toxin is guaranteed." There's no danger apart from the mercury, so disregard the first sentence. To avoid mercury exposure, handle the bulbs carefully and dispose of them properly. You understand that by "break" they mean physically smash and not just stop working?

"Things Not to Do!

1. Do Not Use Vacuum Cleaner
   
2. Do not walk through broken glass
   "
   
   why would anyone do that
   
   
   "And our environment? This is where mercury laden CFL bulbs do their most serious damage to everyone of us. This is the same environment that our hordes of?Greenies? are so concerned about dying from global warming. But unknown to our greenie friends, already there are hundreds of millions of disposed CFL bulbs that have contaminated personal garbage cans, fleets of garbage trucks (spreading their toxicity near and far), and garbage disposal sites, that are doing irreparable damage to our ground water, except when such garbage is burnt; then, mercury is released into the very air we all breathe. "
   
   That's why you're meant to take them to the tip, like all electronic waste. If you live near an IKEA, they have disposal bins there (as I do and I don't have a car, that's where I dispose of them). And as they last for a very long time you hardly have to do this ever :)
   
   The stuff about flickering and migraines - this is only true with older bulbs and with the strip lights. These flicker at a rate humans can detect, sometimes even one you can actually see. So they can mess with your eyes and make you feel ill (it's nothing permanent, though!) Modern CFL bulbs flicker far too fast for it to have any effect. I am sensitive to flickering lights and the modern bulbs have no effect on me, seriously.
   
   Please, stop worrying! There are dangerous things out there which people are too trusting of, but this is not one of them! :)

[Jstrick]

I think you're understating this. Even if you clean them up properly they contaminate your floor, your bedding, your kids toys, your clothing, or anything else they are broken over top of and the surfaces will emit mercury vapour at up to 50 ug/m3 when agitated (chronic levels are .03 ug/m3 in a home) They even contaminate the dust in your home that your kids are going to be exposed to. You will also be exposed to very high levels of mercury vapour sometimes exceeding OSHA limits. Far higher than the vapor from a thermometer or thermostat . Mercury evaporates based on surface area (50 ug/hr per centimetre squared so a thermometer with 500 mg would evapourate about 50 ug per hour) There is very low vapor release from a thermometer break or a battery leak even though there is much more mercury in them. A cfl sprays millions of tiny droplets into the air for a high surface area which evaporates quickly . Giving you an acute dose of mercury. You could eat mercury and only 1/1000 of it would be absorbed. Breath it in and its 80-97% absorption. Very dangerous. They should be illegal for homes. Don't believe me? the following study shows that carpets (even hardwood floors) emit mercury for months even after a breakage is cleaned up "properly". No, not at low levels. Levels that can cause mercury poisoning from chronic exposure when your kids play on that floor. (Search Maine cfl study).

I cannot believe they are not putting warnings on boxes of these things.

These are far more dangerous than people think they are. I thought it was no big deal too, until I broke one with kids in the room.

[HazeltheMcWitch]

Jstrick - this thread is 2+ years old....

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

Oh how weird, Jstrick, why are you bringing up zombie threads to post the same message?

[Jstrick]

Again sorry. Didnt realize threads were this old at first. Not trying to scare monger just worried.