When the contents of millions of these little fellows start reaching the water table we will have big trouble.
I'm not disagreeing with you. Just pointing out that the problem has nothing to do with CFLs in particular, but instead with ALL fluorescent bulbs, including the long straight tubes, and the circular ones, etc. and that somehow we learned to deal with that in the past 60+ years. While there are more little CFLs than big tubes, the CFLs tend to have only a fraction of the mercury of the big ones. It evens out to a degree.
If you're going to complain about mercury in CFLs, be sure to include their bigger brothers too.
The amount of mercury in these is minuscule compared to the old style fluorescent tubes which have pretty much lighted the world's large buildings since the 1940s.
Did George Bush detonate a super hyper mega SUV bomb rendering the world's environmental mercury a million billion times more toxic than it has ever been before?
How is this going to be a problem that can be detected or measured without the finest test equipment mankind can manufacture?
Oh, and for.the record, the “Ozone hole” has waxed and waned in sync with volcanic eruptions in the decades since CFCs were banned. Did you fall for.that one too?
You really can fool some of.the people all of the time.
My wife once told me I should stop throwing those new government light bulbs out with the trash when they burn out. (shrug) What am I supposed to do with them? Flush them down the toilet? (Of course, with these water-saving government toilets, I’d have to flush three times.)
Whatever... let scumbag government worry about it. I sure won’t.