According to the associates at General Electric, compact fluorescent light bulbs pose very little, if any, health risk to consumers. Unless they are broken, consumers should not worry about the health risks associated with compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Overexposure to ultraviolet light can have damaging effects on the body. Despite the fact that ultraviolet light can be damaging, typical compact fluorescent light bulbs emit such a small amount of ultraviolet light that its health effects are negligible.
The only real danger posed by compact fluorescent light bulbs is from the elemental mercury contained within them. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, exposure to elemental mercury can lead to symptoms including but not limited to tremors, muscle atrophy and cardiac arrest. Overexposure to elemental mercury can result in death.
Because of the health risks associated with their mercury content, consumers who break a compact fluorescent light should exit the room and give the mercury from the bulb time to dissipate throughout the room before cleaning it up.
EarthEasy.com claims that most compact fluorescent light bulbs contain around 5mg of mercury. Due to technological advances, many manufacturers are producing compact fluorescent light bulbs with lower amounts of elemental mercury than ever.