Are CFL bulbs dangerous?

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Compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs are supposed to be good for your electricity bill. The bulbs use 50 percent less energy and last much longer than incandescent bulbs. Vicki Cobb says one of the bulbs, installed in a lamp, has lasted four years.

But are they bad for your health?

CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury (4 milligrams on average) sealed within its winding glass tube. This is because the CFL uses mercury vapor is an essential element to creating light within the bulb. No mercury is released when the bulb is intact (not broken) or in use.

The problem comes when a bulb breaks. Mercury escapes as vapor that can be inhaled and as a fine powder that can settle into carpet and other textiles. At least one case of mercury poisoning has been linked to fluorescents: A 1987 article in Pediatrics describes a 23-month-old who suffered weight loss and severe rashes after a carton of eight-foot (2.4-meter) tubular bulbs broke in a play area.

When a CFL burns out, it's recommended that you take the bulb to a CFL recycling center (the Earth911.com site is a good resource for finding recycling sites near you). When the bulb is recycled, it will go through a mercury absorbing filter to negate any mercury emission into the atmosphere or environment.

If a CFL bulb breaks, make sure people and pets leave the room and air out the room for 5 to 10 minutes. After thoroughly collecting the broken glass and any visible powder, it's recommended that you place the broken CFL pieces into a sealable container and then transfer it to an outdoor trash container.

What are the differences in the types of light bulbs used in the home?

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We've gotten used to the mushroom-shaped incandescent light bulb that's illuminated our homes for generations. But over the last decade, two new light bulb technologies have become more widely available--as well as more affordable--while offering significant energy use and cost savings.

• Incandescent: The most common light bulb, the one that you grew up with, incandescent bulbs are inexpensive and provide a variety of illumination levels (from 15 to 150 watts). However, incandescents are not very efficient, losing up to 95% of its energy as heat (with a 100-watt bulb heating up to around 300 degrees F).
  
• CFL (Compact Fluorescent): A type of fluorescent lamp, CFLs provide the same amount of visible light as incandescents, but they use less power (about 75% less) as well as produce less heat (also about 75%). While they're more expensive, they can last up to 10 times as long as an incandescent bulb and save you up to $40 of energy costs during their life.
  One downside, however, is that CFL bulbs contain a small amount of mercury, which requires extra steps for removing them from your home either after it burns out or if it breaks (see more below). Another frustration about some CFL bulbs is they tend to require a warm-up time of between 30 seconds and one minute before they reach their full brightness.
• LED (Light Emitting Diode): Even more efficient and longer lasting than incandescents and CFLs, LED lamps are the next step to reducing your energy consumption and saving money on your electric bill. You might be familiar with LED lights on electronics (such as a power button), but now lamp bulbs are able to take advantage of multiple illuminator LEDs inside a fixture to produce full spectrum color (i.e., white light). 
  LED bulbs can last up to 50,000 hours (about 8 times the life of a CFL bulb and about 15 times that of an incandescent bulb), and they produce far less heat than incandescents (like CFL bulbs). Unlike CFL bulbs, there's no warm-up time for the LED bulb to get to full brightness. And LED bulbs do not contain mercury, so there's no worry about disposal.