Wow, fluorescent bulbs really DO explode!

[SeattleGirl]

I had one at the top of one of the staircases in my house. It is wall mounted, not on the ceiling. Last night, I accidentally hit it (no, there is no cover for the bulb), and damn! It was like there was a charge in it. Damn thing literally exploded, and there was glass from the top of the stairs all the way to the bottom. I don't think I'll be using fluorescent bulbs in that area any more. :scared:

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Hi SG...vacuum VERY carefully....

Those shards are tiny.

I had a couple of them burst at the place I used to manage. They burst very close to a pregnant employee. I knew they gave off some kind of undesirable chemical, so I called in a testing firm to make sure the chemical would not harm her baby.

They found a small but acceptable concentration of the stuff (whatever it was...I forget now) in the air.

The big thing was getting the glass off the floor. It was in a break room, and people used to take their shoes off during lunch.... :hi:

[jmowreader]

16. The stuff is mercury

[Iggo]

2. Yes they do, And spectacularly. (n/t)

Bwoof!!!

[Zomby Woof]

3. Make sure after vacuuming

To dispose of at a local toxic waste facility. Those bulbs contain mercury.

[Taverner]

4. Aw man you ain't seen nuthin' till you see High Pressure Sodium bulbs go pop!

[Redstone]

5. Put a damn cover over it, would you? Then you won't have to worry about

breakage and the attendant mercury. Glass globe shades are only about two bucks at your local hardware store.

Redstone

[AllenVanAllen]

6. If you vacuumed up the powder mess.

Make sure to change out the vacuum bag afterwords. I'm glad you didn't injure yourself. Those pressurized bulbs can be very dangerous. :hi:

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. Not to be "that science guy", but flourescent tubes implode, not explode.

But either way, yeah, they make a totally ludicrous mess.

As others said, make sure to vacuum the hell out of the mess.

[Wapsie B]

8. I remember dropping one of those on a hard floor.

I heard a loud pop! and a shower of glass which covered the floor. One of those mistakes you learn from. Never stand a fluorescent bulb on end, even for a second to grab something else.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

9. A friend of mine is minus an eye because of an exploding fluorescent bulb.....

The bulb exploded at one end and the broken remains fell and hit him in the face.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Crap! My kids sleep with CFLs about 8 inches away from their faces. :^( And we have one light that

the only way you can turn it off and on is to screw and unscrew it.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

11. This wasn't a CFL...........

this was one of those tubular, shop-light style bulbs. I'm pretty sure the CFL's are much less fragile.

This thing sheared through the lens of his eye, tore his iris, lacerated the cornea and did extensive tissue damage. Bad news.

[hippywife]

14. I think I would be finding

an alternative to that situation posthaste.

[SeattleGirl]

13. OMG!

That is so awful.

[Raven]

12. They sure do! I had one go in my office one Saturday morning

and sparks flew everywhere. I called the Boston fire department and at least 100 guys showed up. It's the little transformer or something.

[NNadir]

15. Don't get excited but there is some risk of mercury associated with this situation.

All fluorescent bulbs contain that metal.

It would not be a bad idea - I'm serious here - to rinse the area using gloved hands - with a salt water solution.

Mercurous chloride is fairly insoluble.

It is wise to ventilate the area.

A typical fluorescent contains about 5 mg of mercury. Since the biological half-life of mercury is very long, on the order of decade, it will build up in your system over time.

Fluorescent bulbs, despite containing mercury, actually reduce overall mercury contamination since the largest single source of mercury in the environment is burning coal. Since fluorescents use less mercury than coal plants emit, and because they are very energy efficient, they reduce mercury over all.

[wain]

17. the logic escapes me

why is a mercury hazard mandated to replace an ordinary light bulb? What are the long term environmental consequences of CFLs accumulating in landfills? Is our science so bankrupt that better ideas cannot be found?