Michelle My Bell Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 In the past 6 months I have had 3 flourecent bulbs break in my home. The first was a small table lamp bulb that broke in my bedroom. The second was an overhead utility light my son pulled off of the ceiling and it smashed down on my daughter's head. The third was also in my bedroom and it was another table lamp bulb. Well, I now know that those bulbs contain a small amount of mercury and there are certain clean-up procedures such as NOT using a vacuum cleaner (which we did). And NOT keeping clothes that could have come in contact with the mercury (which we did and now have no idea which outfit was which). So now I am mega paranoid about this and I am wondering if my house is giving me or my children mercury poisioning. I don't even have any clue how to know. Would you just trust that everything is fine and move on with your life or would you do something else? I have prayed about it a lot and just don't know what to do. I do trust that God is taking care of us, but I do feel that we have personal responsibility here as well. I just feel sick that these bulbs were even allowed to be sold. Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Heather Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp Info on bulbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Ok, that info on snopes made me NOT want to get any more fluorescent bulbs! Right now I have a house full of them. My biggest concern is that there is no where around here to take them to be recycled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoraida Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 My mother said that she read an article about a lady who broke one of these light bulbs. The woman called 911 and said she broke a light bulb with mercury in it. 911 located a special team to come in and clean up the lightbulb mess which took about 3 minutes in all. This special team charged the poor woman 2,000 for clean up fees. Blessings Zoraida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle My Bell Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 Heather, Thank you so much! That actually makes me feel a lot better. I could only find doomsday type reports and this one helped me feel somewhat safer. God Bless, Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 When I was a kid, my dad used to sometimes bring home the liquid, silvery mercury. I guess he got it from work, he was an a/c guy. Anyway, my siblings and I used to love to hold it, let it roll around on our hands, poke it into separate balls and then watch them melt back together, etc. We certainly had no idea mercury was dangerous, and I guess my dad didn't either. Maybe this wasn't common knowledge back in the early 70's? Michelle T, who somehow survived her childhood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagnfun Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 When I was a kid, my dad used to sometimes bring home the liquid, silvery mercury. I guess he got it from work, he was an a/c guy. Anyway, my siblings and I used to love to hold it, let it roll around on our hands, poke it into separate balls and then watch them melt back together, etc. We certainly had no idea mercury was dangerous, and I guess my dad didn't either. Maybe this wasn't common knowledge back in the early 70's? Michelle T, who somehow survived her childhood! hahaha... 15 yrs back ds & I were cleaning out his fathers garage and came across a pint of mercury! We played with it then I took it to the haz mat casual drop off. OOOPSSS. They shut the place down FAST so they could deal with it. Apparenly, they don't like 5ft. woman w/ kids in tow carring pints of mercury around the building. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 Okay, now I am worried. Thank goodness we havent replaced all bulbs in new house yet. Safety or save money? I guess save money and go with flourescent. So confused. That reminds me of recent Christmas tree incident. I wanted fake tree in new house. So got one from Home Depot, but big paper when open up said Lead Warning, wash hands. Okay, so what do I do about kids and cats. Returned it and called all over to find lead free tree. Apparently only ones are American made and expensive. Matter of fact I should buy one right now to save money. And yes, I could go all natural, but thats a mess. Jet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 we are only using CFL's in lights that have a cover underneath them, reducing the risk of breaking them. We are checking into the best lamps and lights that have protective glass surrounding the CFL's --the globe lights and other types like that offer a defense against the actual CFL breaking. or like snopes says: "avoid putting them in lamps likely to be sent crashing to the floor" with five kids??!! yeah right, lol. until i find something that I like in other areas, we are using plain ol' incandescents in places that pose a risk of breakage. I'm betting that even when incandescents are illegal, there will be quite the market for them ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GraceinMD Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 We certainly had no idea mercury was dangerous I remember playing with it in Chemistry class in 7th grade - rolling it across the lab bench to other kids, picking it up, etc. I do remember LOTS of warnings about carbon tetrachloride, but not Hg.... Re: lightbulbs - I heard a speaker recently from our local electric co. mention that regular (incandescent) lightbulbs would be phased out by 2012. Does anyone know anything about this? (I haven't bothered to search; I'm just wondering if anyone has heard this - but don't, please, spend any time on it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 When I was a kid, my dad used to sometimes bring home the liquid, silvery mercury. I guess he got it from work, he was an a/c guy. Anyway, my siblings and I used to love to hold it, let it roll around on our hands, poke it into separate balls and then watch them melt back together, etc. We certainly had no idea mercury was dangerous, and I guess my dad didn't either. Maybe this wasn't common knowledge back in the early 70's? Michelle T, who somehow survived her childhood! We played with some too! My Grandfather used to play with uranium too. None of "the guys" died from anything but old age or a heart attack from eating bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I heard a speaker recently from our local electric co. mention that regular (incandescent) lightbulbs would be phased out by 2012. Does anyone know anything about this? (I haven't bothered to search; I'm just wondering if anyone has heard this - but don't, please, spend any time on it!) not necessarily "regular incandescents" but energy-sucking incandescents ;) If they can create an incandescent that uses 25-30% less energy, they will be allowed to continue making them: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2007-12-16-light-bulbs_N.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 That brought up a memory from Elementary school--I think our whole class played with mercury! This was in the early 70's--didn't they know then how dangerous it was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mamaw Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I thought these bulbs were supposed to last a LONG time, and mine went out within several months. I'm disgusted that I paid for these, if they're not going to last any longer than this. Yes, it has a warranty, but I'm supposed to mail it in, with an original receipt. I didn't save the stupid receipt. Argh. Are these lights not allowed to hang upside down? Could this be why it went out early? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Heather Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 We played with some too! My Grandfather used to play with uranium too. None of "the guys" died from anything but old age or a heart attack from eating bad. I remember general chem lab and we turned the knob thigy the wrong way on the baraometer and the mercury came shooting out the other end. We spent the afternoon on our hands and knees chasing down mercury balls with plastic pipettes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 We played with mercury in gradeschool, too (70s). What fun it was! We did know it was dangerous and only touched it with pencils. (But the teacher thought that was safe and now they would say no way!) I've often wondered if all that messing with mercury plus my mercury fillings had a part in causing my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I guess everything affects people differently so it's hard to say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaTanya Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 When I was a kid, my dad used to sometimes bring home the liquid, silvery mercury. I guess he got it from work, he was an a/c guy. Anyway, my siblings and I used to love to hold it, let it roll around on our hands, poke it into separate balls and then watch them melt back together, etc. We certainly had no idea mercury was dangerous, and I guess my dad didn't either. Maybe this wasn't common knowledge back in the early 70's? Michelle T, who somehow survived her childhood! I think *I* broke it. I was probably trying to clean it up without letting anyone else know I'd broken the thermometer. I've thought about that a few times . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I'm another one who remembers gathering up the little balls of mercury from the floor when the thermometer broke. Still.. I know it's a hazard. And it really, really ticks me off that our guvmint officials have decreed we all HAVE to use those mercury light bulbs in a few years. Grr about ethanol. Grr about lightbulb laws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne in ABQ Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 I did that several times when I was a kid, and still did it when I was a young married lady (about 19 or 20 years old). I remember playing with mercury from a broken thermometer, and it got on my wedding rings and soaked into the gold, turning them ugly and silver. I took them to a jeweler, who was able to get the mercury out somehow. Anyway, I have suffered no ill effects from the mercury exposure I had, and I'm sure it was much more than anyone could get from a lightbulb. I wouldn't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 What would I do? I am dealing with the issue of my kids likely having some mercury poisoning and I am not sure what to do either. I used a heavy metal test kit by an Australian company called FullHealth. I am a naturopath and my wholesaler stocks these- you just use urine or saliva and its quite inexpensive- (I just tried to find them online and couldnt ). I did it out of curiosity and was quite shocked to find my kids both tested positive for mercury. They dont have any mercury amalgums. I don't know where they got it- if the test is accurate. (I am a naturopath but I don't believe every product's sales pitch!) . However, it is notoriously difficult to accurately test for mercury. I contacted a friend who is a doctor and he said hair analysis is the next best thing. What he uses (he specialises in this sort of thing) is a chelation therapy product, but it involves intra venous therapy and he hasnt used it on children- and my kid would be very upset by it- and that's just to test. Blood tests are apparently innacurate. But in your case you could at least do that for a start. Mercury is very bad. Do some searching online- very very bad. I am not sure what to do myself, and I am only not panicking because my kids dont seem to have any symptoms- except that my son has learning difficulties, but his dad does too so its probably genetic. I am going to do a retest soon, and if their tests are still positive I will do more research and take it further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 I'm another one who remembers gathering up the little balls of mercury from the floor when the thermometer broke. Still.. I know it's a hazard. And it really, really ticks me off that our guvmint officials have decreed we all HAVE to use those mercury light bulbs in a few years. Grr about ethanol. Grr about lightbulb laws. That ticks me off too. I almost want to go out and stock up on as many reg. bulbs as I can and not switch for a long, long, long time. I don't want to switch to them, I just don't like them at all!! You cannot recycle them at too many places here, so what does that mean? You send it to the landfill, I think not, or you keep it in your home, another I think not. Okay, I am done high jacking your thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.