In article , Josepi wrote:

I have never had a CFL burn out yet in several years of usage. Many have
broken or came apart from the base and leaked.

Have you actually seen mercury leaked from a CFL? I doubt it - the
quantity is very small.

Meanwhile, I have extensive CFL usage, and never broken or cracked one
unless I dropped it. I have seen one CFL that cracked during use, among
hundreds of burnouts that I have had a chance to see.

I have had a few come apart at the base during handling - like 2,
with one additional having the tubing come loose from tubing end
overheating while approaching burnout, with none of these 3 having
the tubing break, while I have had more burnouts than that in my home
since 1990. Both the ones that had their bases coming apart were dollar
store stool specimens of usual dollar store brands.

- Don Klipstein )

"Don Klipstein" wrote in message
...
Compared to incandescent, CFLs in USA on average reduce mercury
contamination of the environment.

Burning coal is a major source of mercury pollution, to such an extent
that a CFL successfully replacing a 60 watt incandescent and lasting over
5,000 hours, or successfully replacing a 100 watt incandescent and lasting
over 3,000 hours, achieves a reduction of mercury pollution - even if the
CFLs are not disposed of properly.

Meanwhile, they can be. I have heard that Home Depot accepts dead CFLs
for proper disposal. There is also www.lamprecycle.org.

- Don Klipstein )