CFL Bulb Toxicity

[Acarpous]

What sort of damage or breakage to a CFL bulb is cause for worry? I noticed a small crack in one after removing it and now I can't stop worrying. I would imagine any form of breakage is grounds for removal but couldn't notice any material in the vicinity of the bulb.

 

[x-ray peat]

Not much you can do now I dont think. Maybe some charcoal. But going forward you should switch to incandescent or halogen. Much better for you

 

[biggirlkisss]

cfl produce lots of uva radiation which is much worse then blue light. A warmer temperature cfl would be a little safer but still stay away unless you get ones that have no uv in their spec sheets.

 

[Acarpous]

Not much you can do now I dont think. Maybe some charcoal. But going forward you should switch to incandescent or halogen. Much better for you

I am aware. I found it in a shared space in my apartment complex.

 

[Amazoniac]

Mercury Vapor Release from Broken Compact Fluorescent Lamps and In Situ Capture by New Nanomaterial Sorbents
"There is limited information on the timing and extent of Hg vapor release from fractured lamps (1,2,5), especially the new CFLs. Jang et al. (1) report only 0.04−0.17% of the Hg as vapor, but this was a study of the phase partitioning within the bulb volume, not a study of the gradual evaporation and release characteristics upon fracture under atmospheric conditions, where we find much larger amounts of Hg vapor (see below). Following any mercury spill, hard surfaces can be cleaned, but in the absence of in situ treatment technologies, porous materials such as carpets or woodwork must be removed and discarded (4). Carpet vacuuming can release Hg vapor when large gas volumes are forced across the Hg-containing dust cake in the vacuum cleaner internal filter. If not removed, spilled Hg liquid will continue to release vapor over time and can spread to other sites through foot traffic. Most consumer information on CFLs claim there is no significant health risk from small numbers of broken lamps, and indeed, since the 1960s, examples of Hg poisoning from all sources have become rare (6). There is one report of Hg poisoning (acrodynia) in a child exposed to broken tube-type fluorescents in a detailed case study presented by Tunnessen et al. (6). Overall, there is significant motivation to improve our management of Hg exposures caused by accidental breakage of fluorescent lamps."

Environmental Release of Mercury from Broken Compact Fluorescent Lamps

Related:
Elemental Mercury Spills

 

[Acarpous]

Mercury Vapor Release from Broken Compact Fluorescent Lamps and In Situ Capture by New Nanomaterial Sorbents
"There is limited information on the timing and extent of Hg vapor release from fractured lamps (1,2,5), especially the new CFLs. Jang et al. (1) report only 0.04−0.17% of the Hg as vapor, but this was a study of the phase partitioning within the bulb volume, not a study of the gradual evaporation and release characteristics upon fracture under atmospheric conditions, where we find much larger amounts of Hg vapor (see below). Following any mercury spill, hard surfaces can be cleaned, but in the absence of in situ treatment technologies, porous materials such as carpets or woodwork must be removed and discarded (4). Carpet vacuuming can release Hg vapor when large gas volumes are forced across the Hg-containing dust cake in the vacuum cleaner internal filter. If not removed, spilled Hg liquid will continue to release vapor over time and can spread to other sites through foot traffic. Most consumer information on CFLs claim there is no significant health risk from small numbers of broken lamps, and indeed, since the 1960s, examples of Hg poisoning from all sources have become rare (6). There is one report of Hg poisoning (acrodynia) in a child exposed to broken tube-type fluorescents in a detailed case study presented by Tunnessen et al. (6). Overall, there is significant motivation to improve our management of Hg exposures caused by accidental breakage of fluorescent lamps."

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Related:
Elemental Mercury Spills

That helps a bit. Just feels like another straw appearing on the camel's back.

 

[Amazoniac]

That helps a bit. Just feels like another straw appearing on the camel's back.

I fixed the second link.

 

[Acarpous]

I fixed the second link.

Have you managed to find any organized studies of leaks from cracks/ non-catastrophic failures?