We've had generations live with much higher exposure than this without ill effect -- and I come from a family once involved in mining operations that involved copious amounts of mercury.
Which is not to say that dumping significant amounts of mercury into the environment is a good or harmless thing -- it isn't, and we can thank the Japanese for classic examples of same.
But a little educated rationality is called for, not ignorant eco-Chicken Littleism. Fact is, the CFLs I use today will release far less mercury than the household fever thermometers I myself broke as a boy. And when a better cost-effective technology (presumably LED) comes along, I'll be on it.
So why didn't the RATS wait until LEDs were more common for conventional light bulb replacement?........GW Politics, which is BS.
What you say about Mercury is mostly correct. However, the dual standard is what is being pointed out. The RATS would be up-in-arms had there been reports of a consumer product (that they did not sanction) that could be broken to release the SAME AMOUNT of Mercury into a consumer home.