I am currently living at a place (basement room) that has a high number of these. Since moving in, I have been screwing the regular bulbs into my room, as I am not comfortable with potentially hazardous bulbs in my immediate vicinity. Today the landlord stopped by to ***** about the bulbs costing him more for power. He had the odasity to try and disguise his "concern," stating that he was worried my bulbs would heat up the wall and start a fire. They are only 40 watt bulbs.

Is it so wrong for me to have some concern for my own health? UV bulbs use mercury and emit ultraviolet light. In small doses, I'll grant you. But all that means is that it will take say, a thousand exposures to do irreparable harm instead of the one hundred exposures it might take if the doses were higher.

I expect a significant battle on my hands in the weeks ahead. Does anyone have any thoughts on human stupidity and why we continue to bombard ourselves with new poisons a century after they have been scientifically validated as toxic?

Well, it's kind of like Radioactivity. The same person who would run away in fear if I showed them a 1 microcurie test source would go hiking in Colorado, sit on a rock, and get 100 times more radiation. Those X-rays of your teeth? wow. How about a CAT scan? Now that's a lot of radiation, but would you rather have the radiation, or an exploratory surgery like they used to do 50 years ago? How about all that magnetism on an MRI? People even wear magnets expecting beneficial results.

The UV is pretty well blocked by the white coating inside the bulb. It's the same kind of light you got with the old long bulbs. They just figured out how to coil them up into a smaller space, and made an electronic ballast (the thing that keeps it from burning up).
If you fear CFL's, don't go into any stores, play basketball at night under mercury vapor lights, OR GO OUTSIDE WHEN THE SUN IS SHINING, now that's a LOT of UV! If you break one, vacuum it up, then throw out the bag right away. Probably wouldn't want to use a bagless vacuum afterwards unless you took it outside and hosed it down.

The CFL's do save a lot of electricity, and all the bulbs in my house are CFL. If you worry about breakage, get the ones with a glass shell and you can handle it like a regular bulb.

The LED bulbs are the best, but are $5 and more. Before long when the price comes down, they should outsell the CFL's.

Don't let fear ruin your day.

As I understand it these new bulbs save you money and are better for the environment. Both are good things! Granted if you break one you need to be careful and truth be told I am not sure how to be careful, I just filled my new home with them so need to find out correct disposal if I break one. And you need to take them to one of a gazillion places that except them for recycling. I hear tell that the bulbs we grew up with are soon going to be put out of use completely so you might want to get with 'the new'.

I think someone has beenfeeding you junk science and making you afraid of something you do not need to worry about. I would be much more concerned about peeveing my landlord and having to try to find houseing.

What can I say I use them in my house as well heck they last longer to me and have yet to break one. The regular bulbs I have broke more then once....I'm all for saving the electric cost if possible....

If the light bulb you are upset about is sold on the open market (and I am pretty certain it is the same kind I prefer to use but can not afford lol), and your landlord pays the electric bill then you are stuck with using whatever bulbs he puts in. These bulbs would not be available if they were "validated toxic", and since yuo are not paying the bill for using them you d not have the right to change them out.

The CFL bulbs help with saving energy and I use them all the time except in my ceiling fan to strong for that fixture, but the ones I use in my lamps I have not changed in a year.

Oh crap ive been sitting under h.p.s and m.h lights for hours!
ahh im radioactive!

I'm doing the same as others here, I've upgraded my entire house with CFL's and soon will upgrade those to LED's, it saves a lot on those monthly energy bills.

Cfls have been known to catch fire. We used them in a hotel and had several do that. I would recommend either leds or keep your lights off.

Yeah, just like cigarettes are sold on the open market and are known cancer causers not only to those that use them, but to those that are around those that use them.

Just like asbestos is a cancer causing agent, but is still in use because it happens to be a versatile product. Asbestos was "validated toxic" fifty years ago, and guess what? The university in my city just began taking measures for asbestos removal within the past decade.

The open market alone is not reflective on whether something is or isn't toxic or suitable for daily consumption, usage, etc. This is the government we're talking about. And if the government can profit in any way, shape or form, they will categorically deny any such charges.

Sure, mercury lined bulbs are "safe for the environment." And yet the government has given us no sound option in the safe disposal of these bulbs. They merely repeat false sentiments in order to restore public faith, and cover up as many facts as possible to better facilitate keeping as many people in the dark for as long as possible.

it doesn't really matter. In 2012 incandescent bulbs will be outlawed and all you'll be able to get will be CFLs

my local walmart accepts them for recycling.

as for the mercury thing, ALL flourescent bulbs have a tiny drop of mercury in them. The mercury vaporizes and conducts the electricty in order to excite the gasses to create a plasma inside the bulb

Last semester I took a physics course and we did a few research projects and a couple of experiments, and the order of bulbs from worst to best ended up being fluorescent, incandescent, CFL, LED.



Also, Daniel makes a good point. Your land lord can do absolutely anything to that apartment as long as it doesn't violate the lease.



And quit worrying about it so much, if you break a bulb, broom if up and take it to a place that recycles them. It's not THAT big of a deal... JMO

fill the basement with ganja plants to "soak up" the UV light