Lamps mercury-containing

Fluorescent lamps, fluorescent lamp ballasts, batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing thermostats, and other mercury-containing equipment are being singled out for special consideration. Specifically, these electrical and electronic wastes outfall into a regulated category called universal wastes in the United States. 

Federal universal wastes In the United States, the universal wastes (such as batteries, pesticides, thermostats, lamps, and mercury-containing wastes) are decided and legally defined by the U.S. EPA. 

Management and Disposal of Mercury-Containing Equipment Including Lamps... 

The objective of this research was therefore to develop a master plan for the safe management of end-of-life mercury containing lamps for the entire country. It encompasses detailed analysis of the complete system of logistics (collection, transportation, and safe disposal of end-of-life CFLs/FTLs), financing models, institutional mechanisms, policy framework, and issue of public awareness. 

Of other concern are mercury-containing lamps. At the end-of-life, compact fluorescent lamps/fluorescent tube lights (CFLs/FTFs) are either disposed in bulk (sold in auction) or disposed individually along with municipal waste. Proper and safe collection of these products would mean its intact collection, transportation and recovery of different components including mercury. The case study outlines the possible hazardous consequences due to improper handling of EoL CFLs and FTLs and proposes a future safe collection, recycling and disposal plan. 

The electrical uses of mercury include its application as a seal to exclude air when tungsten light bulb filaments are manufactured. Fluorescent light tubes and mercury arc lamps that are used for street lighting and as germicidal lamps also contain mercury. 

Figure 1. Lamp chamber containing 66 low-pressure mercury vapor lamps encased in quartz tubes, each situated 1.27 cm from adjacent lamp.

Isotopic enrichment has also been found by monoisotopic photosensitization for mixtures of natural mercury and alkyl chlorides and vinyl chloride by similar processes. Isotopic enrichment is dependent on such factors as lamp temperatures, flow rates, and substrate pressures. Enrichment increases with decreasing lamp temperature and increasing flow rate, since process (VIII-1) is more ellicient at low temperatures and Cl atoms react with natural mercury containing higher fractions of 202Hg in (VIII-3) at higher flow rates of HC1 or under intermittent illumination. The intermittent illumination results in higher enrichment than the steady illumination. 

Low-pressure mercury vapor lamps are used to produce the UV light (see Figure 8.14). An electric current is passed through an inert gas. This vaporizes mercury contained in the lamp, which then emits UV radiation. The lamp is encased in a quartz sleeve and water is in contact with the quartz. Quartz is used instead of glass because quartz does not absorb UV radiation while glass does. 

Low-pressure mercury lamp [Arc) A type of resonance lamp which contains mercury vapor at pressures of about 0.1 Pa (0.75 x lO Torr 1 Torr = 133.3 Pa). At 25 °C, such a lamp emits mainly at 253.7 and 184.9 run. Other terms used for such a lamp are germicidal, cold and hot cathode. Wood lamp. 

Lamp manufacturers have reduced the amount of mercury in fluorescent lamps by about 60 percent. They developed ways to make the lamps work just as well with less mercury, ffowever, mercury lamps are much more popular. Each lamp now contains much less mercury. But there are many more lamps than ever before. 

Cinnabar is a natural mercury(II) sulfide, HgS, found near volcanic rocks and hot springs. It is the only important source of mercury, which has many uses, including dental amalgams, thermometers, and mercury vapor lamps. Mercury is formed in the following endothermic reaction when mercury(II) sulfide is heated. Consider a system in which a sample of HgS in a closed container is heated with a Bunsen burner flame. 

I 1.6.14. Mercury-Containing and Mercury-Free Plasma Lamps... 

While some of the mid-IR sources emit light below 400 cm the intensity drops off. A more useful source for the far-IR region is the high pressure mercury discharge lamp. This lamp is constructed of a quartz bulb containing elemental Hg, a small amount of inert gas, and two electrodes. When current passes through the lamp, mercury is vaporized, excited. 

State of Washington (2015) Mercury-containing lights and lamps as universal waste. Department of Ecology, http //www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/hwtr/dangermat/universal waste lamps.html Accessed Aug 2015... 

Gaseous discharge lamps which contain internal electrodes also can serve as sources for atomic absorption. They are variously called arc lamps, spectral lamps, vapor lamps, and by the name of the manufacturer, such as Osram lamps and Philips lamps. Gaseous discharge lamps contain an inert gas at low pressure and a metal or metal salt. They are especially suited to metals of relatively high vapor pressure, such as the alkali metals and some other metals such as mercury, cadmium, and lead. 

A mercury-vapor lamp is a gas discharge lamp which uses mercury in an excited state to produce light. They also offer a very long hfetime, as well as intense lighting. Like fluorescent lamps, mercury-vapor lamps usually require a starter which is usually contained within the mercury-vapor lamp itself. 

New Hazardous Waste Regulations were introduced in July 2005 and under these regulations electric discharge lamps and tubes such as fluorescent, sodium, metal halide and mercury vapour are classified as hazardous waste. While each lamp only contains a very small amount of mercury, vast numbers are used and disposed of each year, resulting in a significant environmental threat. The environmentally responsible way to dispose of lamps and tubes is to recycle them and this process is now available through electrical wholesalers, as described in Chapter 1. 

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