Broke a 26 watt CFL - Mercury, what else?

[ltiu]

In the garage.

I broke a 26 watt CFL.

My stand up light fixture toppled when I backed on to it. The light fixture's glass enclosure (enclosing the CFL) broke into many pieces.

The CFL itself was mostly intact and actually stayed lit for a while, flickered a bit before I killed the switch. The fact that it flickered means it must have cracked somewhere.

Now what do I do?

Sweep it away and into the dumpster?

I am staying away from the garage right now with the garage door opened to let the air circulate a bit.

Any more precautions?

 

[Black Rose]

PDF on How to clean up broken CFL bulbs (pages 2 and 3).

 

[aussiebob]

Quote from Wikipedia

Special handling upon breakage is currently not printed on the packaging of household CFL bulbs in many countries. It is important to note that the amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure. Chronic however, implies that the exposure takes place over a long period of time. One time exposure to a trace amount of mercury is unlikely to be harmful. Conventional tubular fluorescent lamps have been used since 1938 with little concern about handling.

 

[binky]

I'm not helping answer your question, but I was just channel flipping the other day and was wondering the same thing about the danger of a broken flourescent tube lamp because I happed to see a scene in the 2005 movie "The Protector" (link to imdb.com info) in which the star is surrounded by a gang wielding tube lamps. The director must have just come off a Star Wars all-nighter and had too much Jedi Knight on the brain. Regardless, there were flourescent tubes getting smashed everywhere & all over even the star actor.

White powder everywhere & all over the actors -- would that even be remotely safe?

Scary stuff when one considers also that there might have been a bunch of takes for each scene.

 

[LukeA]

If it flickered then I think the ballast or the filament is messed up.

 

[MarNav1]

Just don't tell the EPA, you have men in spacesuits going through your garage.

 

[Fallingwater]

http://dansdata.blogsome.com/2008/09/04/light-bulbs-of-doooooommmm/

 

[yuandrew]

The vapors should dissipate very quickly. Anyway, if you are cleaning this up, DO NOT get cut by the broken glass ! I read that the phosphor coating will slow or prevent your blood from clotting not to mention it will make your cut VERY itchy!

I was at my Lowes about two months ago needed to get a 25 watt vanity globe for the downstairs bathroom (for some reason, every time I change one, another next to it burns out) and some man nearby was telling me not to get the fluorescent lamps because of the mercury in them. I told him he probably has 1000 times more mercury in his thermostat* (assuming it's an older one with the tilt switches; not the electronic type) but he still said that he didn't trust those bulbs due to what he heard on the news.

*Even worst was a pair of LA Lights sneakers I had when I was in first grade. It wasn't until many years later I found out I had about a gram of mercury (used as a vibration/tilt sensor and in the button cell batteries) under each foot.