Light Bulb Non-Bright Idea

My husband found out that energy saving light bulbs contain mercury and can be hazardous if broken. We had them in the chandelier above our dining table where the kids could easily reach them (and have messed with the chandelier before), so he decided to take them out before they break one, breathe in mercury dust & get cut by glass that contains it.

Well, go figure, as he was taking them out he accidentally broke one! We had to look up the procedure for safely cleaning it up. (I think it's on the bulb pckg, but we didn't have that.)

In case you were wondering, here's what to do if one of these bulbs break:

*Ventilate the area and have people and pets leave the area for 15 minutes
*Remove all jewellery - mercury may cause it to permanently discolour
*Use two pieces of card/paper to scoop together the debris, taking care to minimise spreading the powder
*Use a damp paper towel to pick up powder
*Dab the area with a sticky tape to pick up small amounts of powder remaining or broken glass
*Wrap all debris and cleaning material well and place in a sealed plastic bag and dispose in accordance with your council regulations
*It is now safe to vacuum the area (Ensure you throw the bag away (or wipe out the canister) immediately following the first use of the vacuum).

-I looked up info on these bulbs & it's a small amount of mercury these contain, but still may be hazzarous--mercury is just a substance that you have to be very cautionary with.