In ,
stan wrote in part:

I have remains of a cheap CFL here on the desk which fell apart!!!!
However closer examination showed a loose (badly soldered wire from a
component) on the little circuit board! Also the CFL base is plastic
with an inside diam. a bit over one inch. It's a bit worrying to think
of 115 volts circulating within that base.

The only CFLs that I ever had falling apart were dollar store stool
specimens without UL listing.

My experience suggests that 120V lamps in USA with integral ballasts,

(other than tungsten filaments deployed inside the bulb like usual
incandescent filaments, as in mercury vapor lamps with ballast filaments)

are normally subject to UL listing as "self ballasted lamp". I find that
most dollar store CFLs do not have UL listing. I am aware of one of those
being recalled for having its ballast housing constructed of a plastic
other than industry-standard flame retardant plastic.

There are standards for spacing/clearance between conductors that have
to be met in order for an integral-ballast CFL to achieve UL listing. My
experience is that pretty much all other than dollar store stool specimen
ones achieve UL listing, esecially if they have "Energy Star" logo and/or
are of one of the "Big 3" brands (GE, Philips, Sylvania).

- Don Klipstein )