Well, it finally happened to me. I've read about it, talked about it, and now just recently, I've lived it. It was unexpected. I was putting my son to bed, and over the monitor I hear "honey, come here quick"!

First, a little history on the subject. Around 18 months ago I began considering Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) for my house. No, I didn't particularly like the idea of bringing extra mercury home, but we have to do something to be more energy efficient, and leave a better world for our children. I didn't like the appearance of the light compared to the illumination from the incandescent bulbs. It also took some experimentation buying different bulbs to find out what "color temperature" the family liked best in different situations. (More later on this).

However, in spite of my concerns and dislike of CFL bulbs, I started sneaking them in to the house. I would change them out in entire rooms to see what response I would get, and if anybody would notice. Yes....they did notice. I took precautions to match "colors" with what had been there previously, but they still caught me every time. My wife really didn't like the changes. Over time she has forgotten what we are using, and adjusted to it.

Now, back to the story.... So, I go rushing into my 2 year old daughter's room to see what is the matter, and her reading lamp has fallen over. The CFL in the lamp is smashed and all over the carpet. I knew we were not supposed to be in the room for a while, because of the mercury contained in the bulb. It was past my daughters bedtime, but we all pulled out of the room anyway, so I could do some quick research.

Somewhere I found that at least an hour out of the room was required, and that is what we did that night. This seemed a bit extreme to me at the time, but I have read 8 hours in other places doing further research since this happened. That night, I used a vacuum cleaner to get up all the glass (a big no no), and put it in a standard trash bag (a big no no). I also picked up bigger pieces of glass with my fingers (a big....you are getting the picture by now). The next day I learned all of the no no's I had broken. I now have to keep rubber gloves around as long as I have CFL's in the house.....

For more on cleanup requirements go to: The EPA website

You can also see...The State of Maine

for the results of testing on broken bulbs.

There is a better answer...