The Mercury CFL Foot-Rot Warning; real or fake?

reply to post by getreadyalready


What about the stuff in the Snopes article about phosphors reducing clotting and retarding wound healing?

If it wasn't the mercury that did it, maybe the phosphors prevented the wound from healing and gave a serious infection an opportunity to cause that damage.

reply to post by FortAnthem


Ya, I was trying to check on that. I've never heard of such a thing, but I suppose its possible? The idea that it keeps the blood from clotting and that is the reason for slowed healing doesn't make much sense, because as long as it wasn't clotting, it would continue bleeding, and that would probably keep it from getting infected. But, if phosphors somehow do keep it from healing it would certainly increase the likelihood of infection.

Regardless of what happened in this rare instance, the risk of CFL bulbs is extremely low and no more significant than any other light bulb. If someone steps on a light bulb and gets tons of glass cuts, there are numerous risks involved and some people are going to end up with infections. As the other poster said, people have died from simple fishing hook accidents.

Infections, such as in the foot in the photos, can be caused by a staph infection. A simple insect bite, or a tiny cut anywhere on the skin can be an entrance point for bacteria. I really don't know about the "CFL Foot rot" theory, but simply by stepping on the broken glass and cutting the foot could have allowed bacteria to enter the foot, causing this type of rot. Think "Necrotizing faciitis".

Personally, I subscribe to Occam's razor : all other things being equal, a simpler explanation is better than a more complex one..........