Handle with Care

(Fox News) - Those new compact fluorescent light bulbs may help save the planet and save you money on your energy bills — but that's only as long as you don't break one. The CFL's contain a level of mercury that can be dangerous if exposed.

The Financial Post reports that one woman in Ellsworth, Maine is looking at a cleanup bill of more than $2,000 — after breaking a bulb during installation in her daughter's bedroom. Her insurance company won't cover the cleanup costs because mercury is a pollutant. CFL supporters say that they can save you about $180 a year in power bills. But at that rate, it will take the woman 11 years to recoup her $2,000 cleanup costs.