CFL - What You May Not Know

CFL, also known as Compact Fluorescent Lamp, is a good replacement of incandescent lamps because it is also comparatively energy efficiency. In the past few years, you can see it used in more and more places. You can read news about it from TV or articles from magazines quite frequently. There are also many things that you may not be well educated but you really need to know. The biggest problem that CFLs have, and no one type of standard lighting (including LED lamp) has is that....

Mercury in CFL

CFL bulbs contain small amounts of mercury which is toxic to individuals, especially those that are still developing, such as children and pregnant women. This is an inherent part of the technology so you will never get a CFL bulb that doesn't contain mercury. Most CFLs contain about 3-5mg of mercury. Here's some excerpts from Wikipedia article on mercury exposure

"Acute exposure to mercury vapor has been shown to result in profound central nervous system effects, including psychotic reactions characterized by delirium, hallucinations, and suicidal tendency."

"A study has shown that acute exposure (4-8 hours) to calculated elemental mercury levels of 1.1 to 44 mg/m3 resulted in chest pain, dyspnea, cough, hemoptysis, impairment of pulmonary function, and evidence of interstitial pneumonitis.[37]"

Here's a link to the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_%28element%29#Occupational_exposure

When choosing bulbs, especially the bulbs that is positioned in the placed that is easy to be broken, you’d better choose led bulbs, such as LED Tubes, LED Downlights, etc.

You need to be very careful when you accidentally break a CFL bulb

Here's some cleanup procedure excerpts:

• "Open a window and leave the room for 15 minutes or more." 
• "Have people and pets leave the room, and don't let anyone walk through the breakage area on their way out." 
• "Use sticky tape, such as duct tape, to pick up any remaining small glass fragments and powder." 
• "If clothing or bedding materials come in direct contact with broken glass or mercury-containing powder from inside the bulb that may stick to the fabric, the clothing or bedding should be thrown away." 
• "If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, - Remove the vacuum bag and put the bag or vacuum debris in a sealed plastic bag." 
• "The next several times you vacuum, shut off the central forced-air heating/air conditioning system and open a window before vacuuming." 

What do you think of the procedure to clean up a CFL? Is it painful? It is always possible as the bulbs can be easily broken, especially when you have naughty boys in your apartment. I think it you will never ever want it happened in your house or in your office.