Workplace Lighting

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 businesses 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

Breakthrough Technology Captures More Than 95% of Mercury Vapor From Broken Fluorescent Lamps and CFLs

VaporLok Products, LLC has announced VaporLokCapture™, a breakthrough adsorbent technology used in fluorescent lamp and compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) storage and shipping containers for capturing mercury vapor from broken lamps and CFLs. VaporLokCapture is a new feature to be incorporated into the company’s patented Mercury VaporLok® fluorescent lamp shipping and recycling system.

VaporLokCapture effectively adsorbs mercury vapors from broken lamps found within lamp storage, shipping or recycling containers. A recent study conducted by NUCON International Inc., a world-wide leader in providing gas, vapor and liquid phase adsorption solutions to the Nuclear Power and other industries, found that mercury vapor levels within packages containing broken fluorescent lamps exceed health and safety exposure limits and guidelines.

Opening a package containing broken fluorescent lamps and/or CFLs presents a significant risk of mercury vapor exposure, potentially rising well above both the OSHA 8-hour permissible exposure limit of 100 ug/m_³ and the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) level of 10,000 ug/m_³. Patent-pending, new VaporLokCapture technology significantly minimizes this risk, effectively adsorbing and capturing the mercury vapor, achieving more than 95 percent mercury vapor reduction within the container. With this design, approximately 60 percent vapor reduction is achieved in as little as 15 minutes after lamp breakage, keeping vapor levels below the NIOSH IDLH guideline.

Using a proprietary process, the patent-pending adsorbent is manufactured with powdered activated carbon and inert chemicals. When lamps or CFLs break, the adsorbent immediately begins to capture the mercury vapor. In addition to broken lamps, VaporLokCapture is designed to adsorb mercury vapor from any device or product containing mercury. You can view a short animated depiction of this process at www.vaporlokproducts.com/capturedemo or read the full release here.

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

What Are Permissible Mercury Vapor Exposure Limits?

We all know that mercury vapor can be detrimental to the health and safety of not only ourselves, but also to the environment. But how much is too much? The Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) set a mercury permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 0.1 mg/m3 (8-hr time-weighted average [TWA]). Some state OSHA programs regulate a stricter mercury vapor limit of 0.05 mg/m3 (8-hr TWA). Additionally, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommends an a guideline of 0.025 mg/m3; this is the same value regulated by California OSHA.

One broken 48-inch fluorescent lamp in a small room or vehicle can release enough mercury vapor to exceed the Federal OSHA PEL. 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. Based on measurements of mercury vapor from single broken fluorescent bulbs, there is a need for additional research to quantify emissions from various types of packaging. The results indicate that emissions from packages not designed to contain mercury vapor represent a real health and safety concern to those involved in its storage, transport and disposal, as well as a legal hazard for any businesses that do not adhere to these stipulations. Recent research has shown that only one current package design which includes a vapor resistant and zip seal bag has proven effective in containing mercury vapor.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

Mercury Permissible Exposure Limit: How Much is Too Much?

The Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) set a mercury permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 0.1 mg/m3 (8-hr time-weighted average [TWA]).1 Some state OSHA programs regulate a stricter mercury vapor limit of 0.05 mg/m3 (8-hr TWA). Additionally, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommends an a guideline of 0.025 mg/m3; this is the same value regulated by California OSHA.2

One broken 48-inch fluorescent lamp in a small room or vehicle can release enough mercury vapor to exceed the Federal OSHA PEL. 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. Based on measurements of mercury vapor from single broken fluorescent bulbs, there is a need for additional research to quantify emissions from various types of packaging. The results indicate that emissions from packages not designed to contain mercury vapor represent a real health and safety concern to those involved in its storage, transport and disposal, as well as a legal hazard for any businesses that do not adhere to these stipulations.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

When is Mercury Vapor Considered Unsafe?

We all know by now that mercury vapor can be a potential health and safety threat if it gets into our homes. But, at what point is mercury vapor considered unsafe?

The Federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) set a mercury permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 0.1 mg/m3 (8-hr time-weighted average [TWA]). (1) Some state OSHA programs regulate a stricter mercury vapor limit of 0.05 mg/m3 (8-hr TWA). Additionally, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) recommends an a guideline of 0.025 mg/m3; this is the same value regulated by California OSHA. (2)

One broken 48-inch fluorescent lamp in a small room or vehicle can release enough mercury vapor to exceed the Federal OSHA PEL. 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. Based on measurements of mercury vapor from single broken fluorescent bulbs, there is a need for additional research to quantify emissions from various types of packaging. The results indicate that emissions from packages not designed to contain mercury vapor represent a real health and safety concern to those involved in its storage, transport and disposal, as well as a legal hazard for any businesses that do not adhere to these stipulations. Recent research has shown that only one current package design which includes a vapor resistant and zip seal bag has proven effective in containing mercury vapor.

1. Occupational Health and Safety Standards: Air Contaminants. CFR, Part 1910.1000, Title 29, 2007.
2. Documentation of the Threshold Limit Values and Biological Exposure Indices, 7th ed.; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Cincinnati, OH, 2001.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC