Switching To a More Efficient Bulb

Fluorescent lamps give off the same amount of light as their traditional incandescent counterparts, but they require considerably less electricity, which in turn reduces the damaging effects electric power generation causes to the environment. Incandescent light bulbs actually require four times the amount of energy to produce equivalent light in a fluorescent lamp. Fluorescent lamps are four to six times more efficient than incandescent lamps, reducing the power demand from local utilities. Because most power stations use coal as a source for electrical generation, they are large emitters of both greenhouse gas and mercury, which is naturally occurring in most coal that is used today.

Mercury does present significant health and safety risks to consumers and handlers. However, proper packaging does exist that has been proven to protect people from mercury vapor exposure when handling fragile fluorescent lamps. To ensure sufficient packaging methods are used, packaging regulations should be defined and enforced.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

Lighting the Workplace with Fluorescent Bulbs

Many businesses strive to keep management expenses low, ensure energy efficiency and provide a safe work environment for employees. When it comes to selecting lighting, all of these aspects must be factored in. Fluorescent lamps have long been the best lighting option for small to large businesses, due to their significant energy savings—providing four to six times higher efficiency than incandescent lights—and long working life. However, these lamps contain hazardous mercury and, from installation to disposal, they must be carefully handled, stored and transported.

While the amount of mercury used in an individual fluorescent bulb has decreased over the past years, one broken four-foot fluorescent lamp in a small room or vehicle can release enough mercury vapor to exceed the OSHA mercury exposure eight-hour limit—posing a significant occupational health risk. Plus, mercury vapor can be emitted for weeks after a single bulb is broken. In their lifetime, fragile fluorescent lamps are handled by manufacturers, transporters, distributors, retailers, consumers and installers, as well as recycling or waste handlers. Although the lamps could break anywhere down this line and expose workers and the environment to hazardous mercury vapors, there are no universally enforced packaging standards designed to protect these people. Recent legislation has begun to address the issue of safe packaging for fluorescent lamps and other mercury-containing products, and facility managers must work to not only comply with these regulations, but also ensure the safety of all personnel in addition to protecting the environment.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

Minimize Safety, Health and Environmental Risks of Used Fluorescent Lamps: Transport

Fluorescent lamps release an estimated one ton of mercury into the air each year in the US alone, and transportation of used lamps may be a significant source of emissions. According to estimates derived from modeling, four percent of mercury air emissions from all products were from fluorescent lamps in 2005—with higher mercury emissions taking place during waste lamp transport than during disposal processes. Measurements of mercury emissions from dumpsters and from transfer station activities support the evidence that transportation of used lamps results in significant mercury vapor emissions.

According to these findings, many used lamps are broken en route to recycling facilities, negating facility managers’ environmental efforts before the lamps even arrive at their final destination. To prevent the release of mercury vapor during the often-rough treks to recycling facilities, lamps should also be transported in packages proven to contain mercury vapor.

Read our previous post on how to handle used fluorescent lamps, and find out next week how to safely transport them.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

How To Minimize Health & Safety Risks of Used Fluorescent Lamps: Storage

One broken 48-inch fluorescent lamp in a small room or vehicle can release enough mercury vapor to exceed the Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) permissible exposure limit (PEL). This means that mercury vapor concentrations could exceed occupational exposure levels when working with or near broken bulbs, especially when multiple bulbs are stored or shipped in bulk to recycling facilities.

Often, maintenance workers at small to large facilities store used lamps for a period of time until numerous lamps are collected for transportation to recycling facilities. Stored lamps may be bumped around and broken, so maintenance workers should package used lamps in a configuration proven to contain mercury vapor emissions. A recent study from the University of Minnesota indicates that three layers of packaging are necessary to provide sufficient containment of mercury vapor. An outer cardboard layer provides structure to the configuration and protects contents from outside elements. A bag positioned between two cardboard layers should feature a suitable material and tight seal—such as a unique zip closure foil-plastic laminate bag—to contain the mercury vapor. Finally, an inner layer of cardboard prevents broken glass from piercing the bag.

Read our previous post on how to handle used fluorescent lamps, and find out next week how to safely transport them.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC