Scientists have studied the effects of mercury exposure for decades, and the information is undeniable — mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin. Mercury has been definitively connected with neurological and behavioral disorders, and yet, lamp manufacturers still make mercury-based fluorescent bulbs. In fact, even with this knowledge, the EPA banned the production of incandescent bulbs more than 20 years ago, putting much of America’s lighting future into fluorescents. First, let us understand why mercury is used. A fluorescent bulb works by exciting phosphorescent material with electricity. The excited phosphorescent material gives off light. There needs to be mercury vapor inside the tube to carry a charge of electricity and create the light.