Others say...

"NOT long lasting!"
I was so excited to find these mini lights that fit our kitchen recessed fixtures. I ordered them in May, and less than 3 months later, every single one has burned out. WAY too short a life, and WAY too expensive. A good idea if only they'd be longer lasting.

"Dangerous Mercury-- BEWARE--Do not break!"
Please read this article before buying or breaking this type of bulb!

ANOTHER BRIGHT IDEA
1 broken bulb pushes contamination to 300 times EPA limits
Poisonous vapor so bad, researchers recommend families no longer use CFLs
August 11, 2008

© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Compact fluorescent light bulbs have long been known to contain
poisonous liquid mercury, but a study released earlier this year shows
the level of mercury vapor released from broken bulbs skyrockets past
accepted safety levels.

Following a story reported by WND last year about a Maine woman quoted
$2,000 for cleaning up a broken fluorescent bulb (or CFL) in her home,
the Maine Department of Environmental Protection studied the dangers
of broken CFLs and the adequacy of recommended cleanup procedures.

The results were stunning: breaking a single compact fluorescent bulb
on the floor can spike mercury vapor levels in a room - particularly
at a child's height - to over 300
times the EPA's standard accepted
safety level.

Furthermore, for days after a CFL has been broken, vacuuming or simply
crawling across a carpeted floor where the bulb was broken can cause
mercury vapor levels to shoot back upwards of 100 times what's
considered safe.

Following the study, the Maine DEP made eight new recommendations for
usage and cleanup of CFLs, including the recommendation to not even
use the bulbs in carpeted rooms where children, infants, or pregnant
women live. The likelihood of breakage, near impossibility of cleanup
and risk of prolonged exposure, the study concluded, are just too great.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website
acknowledges that Brown University published a similar study last
month confirming the Maine results: breaking a fluorescent bulb sends
mercury vapor levels to unsafe levels for the elderly, pregnant and
young - and those
levels remain elevated for days.

The NIEHS website states, "Today's CFLs underscore mercury's volatile
vapor form, which is still a significant health concern - ventilation
reduces but does not eliminate this toxicant. Mercury vapor inhalation
can cause significant neural damage in developing fetuses and children."

According to a Mercury Policy Project overview paper, unpolluted air
contains 1-2 nanograms (or billionths of a gram) of mercury vapor per
cubic meter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established
a level of 300 ng/m3 as the safety threshold for prolonged exposure to
the poisonous gas.

Some states, though not the federal government, have also established
a safety threshold for a one-time, acute exposure to mercury vapor.
California, for example, has established that any level of exposure
over 1,800 ng/m3 has potentially harmful health effects.

The Maine study, however,
discovered that upon breakage of a CFL,
mercury vapors can rise "with short excursions over 25,000 ng/m3,
sometimes over 50,000 ng/m3, and possibly over 100,000 ng/m3 from the
breakage of a single compact fluorescent lamp."

In other words, the study found breaking a single bulb can send
mercury vapor levels in a room to over 50 times the level that
California considers dangerous and to over 300 times what the EPA has
established as a safe level for prolonged exposure.

Researchers in the study broke 45 bulbs in a variety of flooring
surfaces and then studied lingering gas levels after a variety of
cleanup techniques. The results contradicted a number of commonly held
thoughts on CFLs, for example:

* Though proponents of CFLs often argue a single bulb only
contains 5 mg of mercury, the study found it was an average. The bulbs
actually range from 0.9 to 18 mg of mercury.

* Though the EPA's
Energy Star program recommends placing a broken
bulb "in a glass jar with a metal lid or in a sealed plastic bag," the
study discovered mercury vapor leaches right through plastic bags. "Of
the 12 different types of containers tested during the 23 different
tests, the plastic bag was found to be the worst choice for containing
mercury emissions," researchers stated. "Based upon this study, the
DEP now suggests that a glass container with metal screw lid with a
gum seal be used to contain debris."

* Though the Energy Star guidelines suggest ventilating a room for
15 minutes before attempting cleanup, the study found that in every
case - even in well-ventilated rooms - it took over an hour to drop
mercury vapor levels below the EPA safety standard.

* And for cleanup on carpets, the Energy Star guidelines suggest
vacuuming and disposing of the dust bag. The Maine study, however,
discovered that
vacuuming served to simply stir the vapor into the air
and "irreversibly contaminate the vacuum". The researchers,
acknowledging it was inconvenient, recommended only one course of
action for broken bulbs on carpet: remove the carpet.

The Maine study also discovered, however, that carpets aren't the only
problem with broken bulbs.

"All three flooring surfaces in this study (pre-finished hardwood,
short nap carpet, and shag carpet) were able to be cleaned up with
pre-study cleanup guidance so that they looked clean. However, mercury
vapors emanating from all three surface types were detected,
especially when agitated, for weeks after the cleanup of a break. ...
Flooring surfaces, once visibly clean, can emit mercury immediately at
the source that can be greater than 50,000 ng/m3."

"Flooring surfaces that still contain mercury sources emit more
mercury when agitated than when not agitated. This mercury
source in
the carpeting has particular significance for children rolling around
on a floor, babies crawling, or non mobile infants placed on the floor."

As WND has reported, several countries, including the United States,
have signed laws that will eventually phase out typical incandescent
light bulbs and dictate their replacement with CFLs.

Even the U.S. EPA, however, has recognized that recent studies show
CFLs aren't safe for all circumstances.

The Maine study may prove the most condemning of the use of
fluorescent bulbs yet.

Part of the study detailed the potential hazards posed by mercury vapor:

"There are a number of studies documenting neurotoxicity as a
consequence of inhalation of elemental mercury in adults. ... Studies
documented changes in EEG, deficits in peripheral nerve function,
autonomic effects, psychological and sleep changes, and deficits in
fine motor performance,
visuomotor coordination, visual reaction time,
visual scanning, memory, concentration, and executive function."

In children, and especially unborn children, the results can be far worse:

"It is well established that the developing organism may be much more
sensitive than the adult to neurotoxic agents. For example,
methylmercury exposure can produce devastating effects in the fetus,
including cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, and even death, while
producing no or minimal effects in the mother."

Children are also more susceptible to mercury vapor exposure from
broken CFLs:

"Infants and toddlers also have a much higher rate of respiration than
adults. Therefore they have a higher exposure to similar
concentrations. They also are lower to the floor and therefore closer
to the source of the exposure and presumably more apt to obtain a
concentrated dose of mercury."

The study, however,
didn't leave out the elderly:

"Elderly and unhealthy individuals may already be at comprised health
and be more susceptible to mercury effects than a healthy individual.
For example, mercury does kidney damage which could exacerbate an
already existing kidney disease."

Unlike many poisons that can be flushed out of the body, mercury
bioaccumulates, which means the various tissues store the toxin in
increasing amounts, a particular concern as the use of CFLs increases.

The Mercury Policy Project summary paper quotes an estimate that the
U.S. currently releases 2 tons of mercury vapor into the environment
each year from broken fluorescent bulbs alone. Two tons contrasts
startlingly with the level the EPA has established as dangerous to
human health: a mere 300 billionths of a gram.

"florescent light bult"
Sure they do save on electricity and last longer however people are not seeming to mention that they contain toxic mercury, which can be ingested or inhaled when they break. Also nobody ever talks about how florescent lights are not natural lighting and can cause seasonal depression or SAD. I will stick with my full spectrum natural lighting or open the shades , its alot less toxic to my health.

"Not good..."
I currently have these bulbs, but yet I received an email from a family member letting me know that these bulbs contain mercury, very dangerous. If dropped you have to go through specific directions to clean it up as well as disposal if they do go out.

I won't be buying anymore, even though they do last a long time. :( I'm too clumsy to worry about the mercury.

"Great small fluorescent bulb"
This fluorescent bulb comes in a small form factor (this is ultra-mini). Definitely smaller than a normal light bulb, and purportedly will save you $34/bulb over the life of the bulb.

After reading some of the reviews here, I tried out all the bulbs when they arrived, just to make sure that they didnt break on the ship over. All the bulbs worked (despite the skimpy padding in the box), so no complaints here!