CFL lightbulb broke in my car

jac409

Super. Has anyone ever broken one of these before? I know they have mercury in them. I had a lamp from my old office in the back of my SUV with one of these bulbs. It broke this morning with LO on the car. I am freaking out a little bit. Called poison control and they told me how to clean it and to air out the car for 15 minutes, but don't vacuum for a week. Why do they even sell these if they have enough mercury in them to have to worry about? Am I freaking out for no reason?

ForeverEverAfter

I've only broken one in the house so I cleaned it up and aired out the room. I would be concerned about the car as its an enclosed space, but don't worry, just follow the instructions you got. If possible avoid having LO in there for a long time today, but there is mercury exposure everywhere.

Ks90

K not trying to freak you out or fear monger. I broke one around my kids a few months ago. Called poison control too who were oblivious. Air out your car with windows down for a few months or replace the carpet. Wipe down all surfaces in the vehicle. I'm going to post some links for you to read. The Maine cfl study shows that carpets are basically gonna vaporize mercury from a cfl break for months. Do NOT drive your car without the windows down with your kids in it. As an adult you should be fine driving vehicle with some ventilation. Research for yourself.
https://www.maine.gov/dep/homeowner/cflreport.html
https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/environmental_risks/docs/scher_o_124.pdf
https://oehha.ca.gov/air/toxic_contaminants/pdf_zip/Mercury_postSRP3.pdf
https://www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/inorganic/id145/id145.html

Ks90

I am not a chemist or a doctor but I have read every study done on mercury exposures and cfls so if you have any questions at all I am literally a walking encyclopedia about this issue. As I said poison control didnt know anything and my poison control didnt even tell me to ventilate or anything. They were only concerned with me disposing of cfl as hazardous waste like I cared about that at the moment plus if i listened to them I would have taken it in my car and breathed it some more as the bulb fragments vaporize mercury for months too. Idiots. https://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/332178/description/Some_comfort_about_broken_CFLs