# Just Broke a Flourescent bulb on my kitchen floor. How doomed am I?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 19, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384 "2013-06-19T18:37:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/1 "2013-06-19T18:37:40Z")
What am I supposed to do about cleaning it up?
Tell my kids I love them.
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/2 "2013-06-19T18:41:58Z")
How to clean up: [http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl](http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl).
Hang in there, don’t panic, you’ll be fine.
ETA: Instructions are from the EPA.
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/3 "2013-06-19T18:53:36Z")
OP hed and OP content is the funniest “Need answer fast” without saying so I’ve ever seen.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/4 "2013-06-19T18:55:39Z")
The worst thing that can happen is you’ll clean it up in the dark.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/5 "2013-06-19T19:03:11Z")
you’re going to die\*
glass chips can travel 20 feet, clean the whole floor.
after sweeping/vacuuming wipe with a damp paper towel, it will pick up if there are any small slivers of glass.
wash hands afterwards before rubbing eyes, picking nose, eating food.
- sooner or later
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### Author:  [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/6 "2013-06-19T19:10:24Z")
Wipe the counters, too. Flourescent bulbs have some kind of powder in them… which you probably don’t want on your counter top surfaces.
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### Author:  [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/7 "2013-06-19T19:15:29Z")
> [@johnpost](#):
>
> you’re going to die\*
>
> glass chips can travel 20 feet, clean the whole floor.
>
> after sweeping/vacuuming wipe with a damp paper towel, it will pick up if there are any small slivers of glass.
>
> wash hands afterwards before rubbing eyes, picking nose, eating food.
>
> - sooner or later
I just thought I’d point out that the official guidance is to avoid vacuuming or sweeping if possible, and if not possible, to do so only after you pick up as much as you can otherwise. You want to minimize the amount of powder that gets into the air
But the key thing for the OP is that it’s just not that dangerous. Unless you start breaking every bulb you own just for the fun of it, your lifetime exposure to mercury from this source is negligible.
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### Author:  [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/8 "2013-06-19T19:22:55Z")
I put on gloves, picked up the pieces, and put them in a Ziploc. I then used a damp paper towel to “dab” up the tiny slivers I couldn’t see.
Then I vacuumed because YOLO, BITCHES!
🙂
Thanks for your help.
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### Author:  [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/9 "2013-06-19T19:27:21Z")
> [@Girl\_Next\_Door](#):
>
> I put on gloves, picked up the pieces, and put them in a Ziploc. I then used a damp paper towel to “dab” up the tiny slivers I couldn’t see.
>
> Then I vacuumed because YOLO, BITCHES!
>
> 🙂
>
> Thanks for your help.
I think this might be the only time in the history of humanity when YOLO was actually used in a clever and funny way. Congrats!
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### Author:  [@babygoat666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/babygoat666)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/10 "2013-06-19T19:28:32Z")
That might be the first and last time someone ever vaccums because YOLO.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/11 "2013-06-19T19:48:08Z")
After totally cleaning the entire floor, it wouldn’t hurt to clean the baseboards, then (you never know) the walls. Then clean as many other surfaces as you can, including windows, because that mercury vapor has flown in all directions.
After cleaning the ceiling, you will be very tired. Relax by reading Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl.”
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### Author:  [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/12 "2013-06-19T21:42:49Z")
> [@babygoat666](#):
>
> That might be the first and last time someone ever vaccums because YOLO.
One time my plastic cup broke and I had to vacuum because SOLO.
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### Author:  [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/13 "2013-06-19T21:44:42Z")
nm
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### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/14 "2013-06-20T00:51:11Z")
I presume you’ve peeled yourself off the ceiling.
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### Author:  [@Girl\_Next\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_Next_Door)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/15 "2013-06-20T03:14:35Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#):
>
> I presume you’ve peeled yourself off the ceiling.
As a matter of fact, I have. I’m even almost done writing a book about it. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/16 "2013-06-20T03:22:22Z")
I had no idea. One broke on my floor a few years ago and I just cleaned it up with no concern.
Am I going to die from this soon? 😉
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### Author:  [@turtlescanfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtlescanfly)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/17 "2013-06-20T04:27:59Z")
> [@panache45](#):
>
> After totally cleaning the entire floor, it wouldn’t hurt to clean the baseboards, then (you never know) the walls. Then clean as many other surfaces as you can, including windows, because that mercury vapor has flown in all directions.
There is a non-zero chance that some of that powder and glass found its way into my kitchen, so to really been on the safe side you should come over and clean my floor, walls, and baseboard. Just to be safe.
Unless, you know, you’re going to be a jerk about it…😉
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-broke-a-flourescent-bulb-on-my-kitchen-floor-how-doomed-am-i/661384/18 "2013-06-20T11:26:48Z")
> [@dracoi](#):
>
> But the key thing for the OP is that it’s just not that dangerous. Unless you start breaking every bulb you own just for the fun of it, your lifetime exposure to mercury from this source is negligible.
Actually, in many areas your exposure to mercury in the air from the coal-fired power plants that generate the electricity to make the bulbs light up is FAR greater than the mercury exposure to one busted bulb. Which makes the OMG! HAZMAT! reaction to a broken light bulb ridiculous.