Speaking of clean-up, I have finally had confirmation of something I had always expected would be the case. I was contacted by someone from a European lighting manufacturer with some scary information (I don't want to be too specific about his job function lest he lose his job for speaking out).
He has visited Chinese factories where CFLs are made, and tells me that mercury spillage is common during the manufacturing process, and that the workers have zero protective clothing, masks or anything else to safeguard their health. This means (as many could easily have predicted) that while our environment may benefit by using CFLs, the Chinese environment and factory workers most certainly do not.
By the way, I think it's about time to replace the old fittings, if you're going to leave incandescent lighting in the past. BC and ES are complete relics, with totally inadequate safety (if the bulb is removed, you can reach the contacts with your fingers. Enough said).
It seems that as far as many manufacturers are concerned, melted plastic, evil-smelling smoke and other similar issues are considered normal modes of failure at the end-of-life of a CFL.
I'm horrified. They should never have made "drop-in" replacements for incandescent lamps.
