Why Should You Switch to Fluorescent Lamps?

Incandescent light bulbs emit light by using electricity to heat up a filament that is encased in a protective glass globe to a very high temperature, causing the filament to glow and produce light. The energy required to produce this light is four times the amount of energy required to produce equivalent light in fluorescent lamps. When the fixtures in an average household are counted and multiplied by the number of households in the country, a true sense of the energy needed to produce the light—that many people take for granted—can be realized.

Fluorescent lamps are made up of a sealed glass tube with a phosphor powder coating along the inside of the glass. Inside the tube is a small amount of mercury as well as an inert gas—such as argon—that is maintained under low pressure. Two electrodes on opposite sides of the tube energize the mercury to produce ultraviolet energy. The phosphor coating on the glass tube then absorbs this energy and releases a photon of visible light.

Like incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lamps don't convert 100 percent of the energy they consume into visible light. However, they are four to six times more efficient than incandescent lamps, which in turn reduces the power demand from local utilities. Since 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. The reduced demand for electricity in turn reduces both greenhouse gas and mercury emissions.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

History of Universal Waste Containers

Universal waste containers that could be transported by common carrier were first introduced in 1998. The first containers were primarily used to ship fluorescent lighting. Initially, these containers were simple corrugated boxes, with some including a plastic bag inside the box. Since the contents were made of glass, they were designed primarily to contain the contents within the shipping container. However, since mercury begins to vaporize at 70 degrees F, packaging improvements were needed to address the issue of potential mercury vapor release in the event of breakage during accumulation and transport. Read more about packaging designed to contain mercury vapor.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC

“Mad As a Hatter”: Truth or Myth

Mercury has long been known to be toxic. The phrase "mad as a hatter" refers to the 19th-century occupational disease that resulted from prolonged contact with the mercury used in the manufacture of felt hats. Along with felt hats, mercury has been taken out of many manufacturing processes and products—as the dangers of mercury exposure become more well known.

Most mercury pesticides have been withdrawn from the U.S. market, and many countries banned ocean dumping of mercury and other pollutants in 1972. Production of mercury-containing interior and exterior paints in the United States was phased out in 1991. Mercury, which has been used in medicines for hundreds of years, continues to be used in various folk remedies that can cause mercury exposures. The use of mercury in dental amalgam for tooth fillings has stirred escalating controversy in recent years. Most other medical uses have been banned or are being phased out.

Despite these changes, some workers today, especially laboratory technicians, nurses, and machine operators, continue to be exposed to mercury on the job. Elemental mercury (the silver liquid familiar in thermometers) is a common occupational source of exposure. Fragile fluorescent lamps and compact fluorescent lamps if broken represent another mercury exposure risk as they are handled by manufacturers, transporters, distributors, retailers, consumers and installers, as well as recycling or waste handlers. There are currently no universally enforced packaging standards designed to protect these people. There now exists a proven packaging design with a vapor resistant and zip seal bag that should be mandated to protect people who work with or near fluorescent lamps, as well as for protecting the surrounding environment.

Brad Buscher
Chairman and CEO
VaporLok Products LLC