Ah, I understand what you are saying now about the hysteria regarding his symptoms...
I also agree with everything you’ve spoken about in regards to long-term exposures, etc...
The one thing I did notice that was rather odd in regards to his purported ER visit was that the doctors nor the EMT supposedly knew ANYTHING about mercury exposure... that strikes me as a pretty wild “accusation” against these medical professionals. I can’t imagine a doctor not knowing anything about mercury poisoning, the effects, or protocol of such. Of course, we weren’t there, and perhaps the doctor was telling him there’s nothing they can do because he wasn’t experiencing an acute exposure, or effects... Or, maybe this guy in his anxious state just thought he was being ignored???
Anyway, your points are well taken. And, thank you for the information about CA and the MTBE issue. I wasn’t aware of that, and yes, that’s a worrisome thing for sure...
Actually, that is important data in this discussion of CFL safety. The ER physicians and the EMTs are trained in the most common poisons they are likely to encounter. They are NOT trained in what to do about inhaling "Mercury Vapor" because it is extremely rare. CFLs do indeed break fairly commonly... but NOBODY is getting poisoned by mercury vapors from these broken lamps. That's why the EMT and the ER people were unfamiliar with it. It's not necessary that they be familiar with it.
There is some slight danger of getting a glass cut with mercury on the glass (from a CFL) that may get into your skin... but Mercury was used in the past as an effective antibiotic treatment on cuts (Mercurochrome? Tincture of Mercury? When my daughters were born, they received routine Mercury laced (Thimeserol - ethyl mercury thiosalicylic acid) eye drops as a prevention against eye infections. Many over-the-counter eyedrops such as Murine® countain the same Mercury containing compounds as does nose sprays, ear drops, flu vacines, etc.). I find it a reassuring fact the EMTs and ER doctors are unfamiliar with Mercury poisoning from CFLs. It proves that broken CFLs are safe to handle with normal precautions one would use on regular light bulbs.
Incidentally, the amount of Mercury in a CFL is a tiny ball about the size of the writing ball in a ball point pen.