That’s odd. I’ve broken one before, cleaned it up and that was that. Never bothered me one bit.
Our recycling center takes them and I save them and drop them off as needed.
Most of the lights in our house are now CFLs with a few exceptions. They don’t bother me one bit. As soon as LEDs come down in price I will switch to those.
Have you been tested for mercury since then?
I’ve cleaned up 4 and it’s cumulative.
Hopefully, you’ll stay lucky.
We switched from the regulars to the ‘twisty’ bulbs. I personally like them. I’m probably going to get a bunch of hater feedback, but oh well.
I do know they use less energy, and they are as bright as the regular bulbs, but they are kind of dim when you first turn them on. I like the fact they do not get hot.
I’ve never broken one myself, but, seriously, IMHO if that’s the absolute worst thing you’re exposed to in your life, consider yourself lucky.
I’m saying this in the logic that you will not be exposed to the broken bulbs day in and day out, year after year. IMO prescription drugs, household chemicals, gas fumes when you’re filling up your car, etc etc...pose more of a risk because you’re exposed to them more often. I mean, how many bulbs do you break a year? I think in my whole life I’ve broken MAYBE 5 light bulbs.
So there’s my input.
I know people who have/had mercury poisoning. It doesn’t take much exposure and it creeps up very slowly. You may not notice the symptoms but other probably will. Forgetfulness and cognitive deficit are a couple of the symptoms.
In short, exposure to mercury could cause you to become as dumb as a doorknob over time and not notice. It affects your nervous system and brain. I don’t believe there is any way to de-toxify other than wait many years for you body to flush it out.