Meanwhile, while changing a blown energy saving bulb ( CFL-Compact Fluorescent Light is actually the correct term ) with a new one, i noticed this.
If you are unsure what are you looking at, let me draw your attention to this.
It is not cracked, or broken. The glass is still intact.
You see, the white that we see on all energy saving bulbs & normal fluorescent tubes is due to a coating called phosphor. It is there to convert strong UV light produced by the excitation of mercury vapor inside the tube to white visible light that you see.
So, the bulb that I got obviously has a defect, where a large part of the tube is not coated. As a result, strong UV light will escape. I was installing it in my living room, where i intend to sit several hours a day as a couch potato. So you see why this is an issue.
Personally I won't use it anymore. But some of you might think, wanna throw meh. Wasteful lah. So, probably use it outdoor where you won't be exposing people for long periods of time. Your car porch maybe. Up to you.
Or you can use LED. I still have a few energy saving bulbs from years ago, that's why.
Wait, Mercury ah? Dangerous oh. Correct. All energy saving bulbs & fluorescent tubes contain a small amount of mercury. This is actually the main reason why they should always be disposed properly, not thrown into the rubbish bin. I know IKEA in Mutiara Damansara has a collection bin for used energy saving bulbs & fluorescent tubes. If you know where else to dispose them properly, please comment below.
And if you somehow break your energy saving bulb or fluorescent tube, there is actually a proper procedure to clean it up. Don't just use a vacuum cleaner to suck it all up & call it a day.
This is the US EPA recommendations on how to clean them up. US EPA has a guideline on this, so you know it is serious!!!
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