The Maine Department of Environmental Protection is a regulatory watchdog. It requires strict permits, closely monitors compliance and hands down strong enforcement actions. Its attention can feel like a thorn in the side.

Every thorn has its rose, it seems. Through its commendable leadership on compact fluorescent light bulbs, the agency has provided an important public service.

Earlier this week, the DEP released the results of its investigation into the health effects of broken CFLs. Through repeated testing, the agency discovered the risks from broken bulbs are apparent, and recommended sensible precautions for consumers.

Rooms with broken CFLs should be ventilated for at least 15 minutes. Carpets subject to a cracked bulb are best thrown away. Fragments of the high-efficiency bulbs should be concealed in a glass jar, to prevent emissions from the small amount of mercury they contain.

Consumers should refrain from putting these bulbs in fixtures where they could be easily broken, especially where they would be in proximity to children, pregnant women or pets.

And never, ever, should a vacuum cleaner be used to clean bulb debris. Instead, use gloves and a wet cloth to collect the material. The DEP calls their recommendations “straightforward.”

We’d call them critical, because our agency is the country’s first to issue them.

In the wake of Maine’s study, the states of Massachusetts and Vermont, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said they would also revise their disposal guidelines for CFLs, according to the Boston Globe. This is a testament to the necessity and importance of the DEP’s analysis.

They come, as well, at a crucial time. Consumer acceptance of CFLs is growing exponentially; national sales of the high-efficient bulbs doubled to 290 million in 2007. Bulb purchases in Maine have risen at a high rate as well.

And Maine lawmakers this session will consider legislation that would mandate CFL use by 2010 to save power and reduce global warming. Federal legislation has done the same thing, except with a timetable extending through end of the next decade.

The DEP’s study, however, makes accelerating the mandatory replacement schedule a riskier proposition. If even slight health concerns exist about the bulbs, consumers should have the choice not to use them. By the federal schedule, CFLs should be the cheaper and safer alternative.

There’s little doubt that adopting CFLs is the right move for energy efficiency and planetary health. Thomas Alva Edison’s incandescent bulb has served admirably for a century, but should be replaced by this superior illumination technology.

It’s only a matter of time. The DEP’s study sheds needed light, for consumers and lawmakers alike, about when.