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Fluorescent bulbs contain mercury, a toxic substance. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides safety guidelines for how to clean up a broken fluorescent bulb. [17] Mercury can be harmful to children and developing fetuses, so children and pregnant women should avoid being in the area whilst a broken bulb is cleaned up. [18]
Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. [3] Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. [3] [4] They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashes, anxiety, memory problems, trouble speaking, trouble hearing, or trouble seeing. [1]
Fluorescent light bulbs and tubes internally produce ultraviolet light. Normally this is converted to visible light by the phosphor film inside a protective coating. When the film is cracked by mishandling or faulty manufacturing then UV may escape at levels that could cause sunburn or even skin cancer. [53] [54]
But anytime a bulb is used for light and not heat, these bulbs are a poor choice. They also have a short life-span — 1,000 hours of light as compared to, say, 10,000 for CFLs and 50,000 for LEDs .
Those energy-saving little LED bulbs advertised as eco-friendly -- and used in strings of holiday lights and in car headlights -- actually contain toxic lead, arsenic and some other bad stuff, new ...
A Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) study of 2008 comparing clean-up methods warns that using plastic bags to store broken CFL bulbs is dangerous, because vapors well above safe levels continue to leak from the bags. The EPA and the Maine DEP recommend a sealed glass jar as the best repository for a broken bulb. [90]
Berylliosis, or chronic beryllium disease (CBD), is a chronic allergic-type lung response and chronic lung disease caused by exposure to beryllium and its compounds, a form of beryllium poisoning.
Light sensitivity or photosensitivity refers to a notable or increased reactivity to light. Apart from vision , human beings have many physiological and psychological responses to light. In rare individuals an atypical response may result in serious discomfort, disease, or injury.