The Dangers of CFL Bulbs - Please Read!

[1bigsteve]

I wanted to share with all of you the bad experiences I have had with these new CFL bulbs. These are the light bulbs that look like a "cork screw."

About seven months ago I replaced all of my incandescent light bulbs with these funny looking CFLs thinking I was "helping out the eco-system." Soon after that I started having massive left-sided headaches at bed time and right-sided headaches during much of the day time. In the morning I would either wake up feeling like I didn't have much desire to live or I wanted to kick someone up a tree, and that was not like me. During those seven months I thought it might be a brain tumor. A friend of mine died from brain cancer so I was a bit worried.

Three weeks ago I stumbled upon a scientific paper warning people of the dangers of using these CFLs and two things jumped out at me, "mood swings" and "headaches." I suddenly realized that the lamp I read by in bed is on my left side and the light I use at my desk during the day is on my right side. That explained my headaches and my bad moods. I replaced those CFLs that day with incandescent bulbs and the headaches and mood swings stopped. I have not had any trouble since. I felt as if I had just come out of a dark tunnel.

The article also mentioned another danger with those bulbs. They have more mercury than what we have been told. If you break one over a carpet a special crew has to clean it up at a cost of over $2,000. You can't put them in the trash and there are very few recycle places that will take them.

I never book marked that article but here is one very similar:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=59554

I'm not one to tell people what to do but check it out and make up your own mind. You may be having the same problems I had.

-1bigsteve (o:

[shakiboo]

Wow, first off, glad your alright! Thanks for sharing that! I havent started using them, I don't like the ones I've seen in use, too bright, but I will pass on the info. Once again thanks.......Glad to see you back!

[Harry]

Thanks for the information. I've heard the same stories about them on a radio show.

Sorry they affected you that way, Steve.

The Snopes web site which investigates urban legend stories looked into the bulbs at:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp

While it doesn't appear they require a special crew to clean up a broken one it does appear there is far more to it than an ordinary bulb breaking.

There is some degree of safety involved and they can interfere with other electronic gadgets. And I certainly wouldn't like to have to to take them to a special disposal site to get rid of them.

I'll pass on them until they resolve the problems.

[FairhavenGuy]

Most of those problems are the same as your four-foot shop light fluorescent tubes, too.

I have read that SOME of the compact fluorescent bulbs can bother people because of their flicker rates. The number of times they blink per second seems to depend on price. The cheaper ones are the offenders. Different prands and prices result in different color and brightness as well.

We have them in almost every lamp they fit in at our house and we haven't experienced any problems.

I don't doubt Steve's experience, but it doesn't necessarily apply to all bulbs.

[Harry]

Most of those problems are the same as your four-foot shop light fluorescent tubes, too.

I have read that SOME of the compact fluorescent bulbs can bother people because of their flicker rates. The number of times they blink per second seems to depend on price. The cheaper ones are the offenders. Different prands and prices result in different color and brightness as well.

We have them in almost every lamp they fit in at our house and we haven't experienced any problems.

I don't doubt Steve's experience, but it doesn't necessarily apply to all bulbs.

Chris, have you had them long enough to see any reduction in your electric bill?

[FairhavenGuy]

Lori pays the bills, not me. . . And we have installed them gradually over the years.

But a fluorescent putting out the same light as a regular 60 Watt bulb uses just 13 Watts. With three living room lamps now using a total of 39 Watts instead of a total of 180 Watts, how can we not be saving?

Also, as far as I recall, only one has burnt out so far. I think one bulb in the cellar, which isn't used a lot, was first used in a lamp I had three homes ago--it's got to be more than 15 years old.

[Yooper]

One consideration when using fluorescent bulbs in an outside or an unheated application is that it takes them a minute to warm up. Porches and garages in a cold climate might not have instant illumination.

I've been using them for a number of years as overhead and outdoor lights without any ill effects, but I haven't used them in a table lamp capacity.

[SallyG]

My husband and I have been using them for quite a few years. I don't recall having any problems with them..I don't think any of them have burned out, either!

[diana]

I sometimes wonder if we're between the devil and the deep blue sea when it comes to being environmentally conscious.

You should not dispose of CFL bulbs with your normal household garbage -- but manufacturers don't stress this fact. Some retailers that sell the bulbs have recycling boxes for them right in their stores -- but it would be interesting to know how many people do end up taking burned out bulbs back there and how many just put them out with the trash.

The following are some sites dealing with disposal of CFL bulbs. One quite scary -- followed by one by the EPA which deals with the issues in a more matter of fact way -- and one from NPR which points out that information on the correct disposal of these bulbs is far less public than the 'greening' factor.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=55213

http://earth911.org/mercury/proper-hand ... l-options/

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=7431198