Preventing Mercury Vapor Release from Broken Fluorescent Lamps during Shipping

Abstract

Fluorescent lamps are estimated to annually release 1 t of mercury into the air in the United States; transport of used lamps may play an important role in these emissions. In 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added lamps to the universal waste rule to encourage recycling by allowing shipment to recycling facilities by common carrier. The rules required that lamp packaging must be structurally sound and adequate to prevent breakage but did not address vapor release. In 2005, a requirement was added that packaging must be designed to prevent the escape of mercury into the environment, but this change does not apply to fluorescent lamps. The goal of this research was to compare mercury vapor containment among different packaging configurations. In 10 replicate experiments of 5 different packages containing 40 broken, used, low-mercury lamps, two 6-hr samples of airborne mercury vapor concentrations were taken in a well-mixed sealed chamber held at 83 +/- 2 degrees F. Average chamber concentrations ranged from 0.977 mg/m3 for a single cardboard box to 0.004 mg/m3 for a double cardboard box with a plastic-foil laminate bag sandwiched between the boxes. In comparison to the single cardboard box, a single box with an unsealed thin plastic liner lowered mercury concentrations in the chamber by 52%, single or double boxes with a thicker tape-sealed plastic bag lowered concentrations by 90-92%, and a double box with a ziplock plastic-foil laminate bag lowered concentrations by 99.7%. The latter was the only configuration capable of maintaining airborne concentrations below all occupational exposure levels. Standards more specific to mercury containment are needed for packages used to ship fluorescent lamps to recyclers. Results from this study suggest that an effective packaging design should minimize the effect of cuts from broken glass while also preventing the release of mercury vapor from broken lamps.

Atomic spectrometry update. Environmental analysis

“…The major reaction products identified were HgI 2 , HgO and HgIO or HgOI. Glenz and coworkers 33 investigated the appropriateness of packing materials in preventing the release of mercury vapour from broken fluorescent lamps. They concluded that a double-boxed package incorporating a laminated foil bag was required to prevent fugitive emissions.…”

Identification and Characterization of Mercury Contamination in Vegetables and Herbs Cultivated on a Commercial Vertical Indoor Farming System with Light-Emitting Diode Lighting: Unveiling an Unusual Food Safety Risk of Some Improperly Manufactured High-Density Agricultural Production Systems

“…In comparison, LEDs have increasingly become the more preferred option because they are more energy-efficient and cost-efficient with a longer lifespan. , Additionally, the LED bulbs are easier to dispose because they do not contain hazardous mercury that is present in the fluorescent lighting system, which would be harmful to the environment . LEDs manufactured for use in indoor farming systems are typically embedded in a panel, together with the required electronics to facilitate their use as lighting systems.…”

“…2,12 Additionally, the LED bulbs are easier to dispose because they do not contain hazardous mercury that is present in the fluorescent lighting system, which would be harmful to the environment. 10 LEDs manufactured for use in indoor farming systems are typically embedded in a panel, together with the required electronics to facilitate their use as lighting systems. A layer of encapsulate is usually overlaid over the LED diodes to protect them from mechanical damage and the environment.…”

Potential Environmental Impacts from the Metals in Incandescent, Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL), and Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Bulbs

“…For example, various efforts have focused on managing the mercury vapor released from broken CFLs. 7,8 Life cycle analyses have been performed (i) to evaluate the amount of mercury reduced by replacing an incandescent with a CFL bulb, 9 and (ii) to quantify and compare energy and environmental impacts in the life cycle stages of incandescent, CFL, and LED bulbs. 10,11 These LCAs highlighted high impact potentials from energy consumption: for instance, compared to the incandescent bulb on an equivalent quantity basis, the CFLs and LEDs reduced primary energy demand and global warming, human toxicity, and resource depletion potentials by approximately 80% during the use and manufacturing stages.…”

“…Due to the importance of lighting to society, previous studies have investigated various environmental impacts from incandescent, CFL, and LED bulbs. For example, various efforts have focused on managing the mercury vapor released from broken CFLs. , Life cycle analyses have been performed (i) to evaluate the amount of mercury reduced by replacing an incandescent with a CFL bulb, and (ii) to quantify and compare energy and environmental impacts in the life cycle stages of incandescent, CFL, and LED bulbs. , These LCAs highlighted high impact potentials from energy consumption: for instance, compared to the incandescent bulb on an equivalent quantity basis, the CFLs and LEDs reduced primary energy demand and global warming, human toxicity, and resource depletion potentials by approximately 80% during the use and manufacturing stages . We recently published an LED study that addressed the potential environmental impacts derived from the metals in LED “pin-type diodes” with various light intensities and colors .…”