After reading this article , I decided I don’t like the bulbs anymore.
The bulbs are florescent, and inside they contain a miniscule amount of mercury. Now, while the mercury is not hazardous to any one individual who might break it, it IS hazardous when all these bulbs reach landfills. These bulbs are very likely to shatter once in a trash bag, and then leech into the water and soil.
The primary issue is that you aren’t supposed to toss these bulbs in the trash. These bulbs require special disposal and we happen to have a limited number of the special facilities – approximately 1 per county. Not only that, but the average Joe Schmoe is going to do what he always does – throw it in the garbage.
Obviously these bulbs pose a small threat to the original consumer, but a serious one to the environment.
Now, bulbs do not cost .50 where I live (more like 1.00–2.00), and currently the florescent bulbs cost 3.50–4.00.
The biggest problem in my opinion is that so many millions of these bulbs have been sold, and the consumers do not know how to properly dispose of them.
I still approve of the concept of the government limiting a type of bulb that is available, but they messed up here. The research and development teams need to go back to their labs on this one.