What to do if a fluorescent energy-saving lamp breaks? What to do if an energy-saving light bulb breaks What to do if an energy-saving light bulb breaks at home.

Dear Oleg! If a fluorescent lamp (which contains mercury) breaks, then you need to do the same when it breaks mercury thermometer- carefully collect the mercury, I would recommend using a regular syringe with a rubber tip for this, or, if you have one with a plastic tip, you need to remove it and use the remaining bulb to “pull” the mercury inside. Ventilate the room well, because Mercury vapor is very harmful. And treat the surface on which the mercury has come into contact (see below). You need to know that lamps containing mercury belong to hazard class 1 waste, i.e. considered to be very dangerous. Therefore, you cannot throw them, even if they are not broken, but simply out of order, into a general trash can. I usually do the following - I call the housing office and ask where to take what’s left of the lamp. Some housing offices at the place of residence themselves accept mercury lamps, and then transfer them to organizations that dispose of them according to the instructions (a license must be issued for this), and some housing offices, if they do not have a special container, must say where, to which organization in your district hazardous waste must be disposed of.

Here is the opinion of experts from Ecotrom
(for reference, the EKOTROM Research and Production Enterprise is a laureate of the Moscow Government Prize in the field of environmental protection (2004) and the “100 Best” competition environmental organizations Russia" (2007), winner of the 1st GRAND PRIX All-Russian competition“ECOLOGY OF RUSSIA” (2008), member of the “Guild of Ecologists”):

“If an ordinary fluorescent lamp containing from 20 to 150 (mg) of mercury breaks, over 11 thousand tiny mercury balls are formed, having a total surface of 3.53 cm2. This is enough to contaminate a room with a volume of 300 thousand m3(*). In the case of a smaller room volume, mercury pollution can reach tens and even hundreds of maximum permissible concentrations (the maximum permissible concentration of mercury in the air is 0.0003 mg/m3)." www ecotrom ru

Here's what Wikipedia says about this:

"In the event of a mercury spill, it is necessary (paragraphs 3,4,5,6 are especially important):

1. Close access to the premises and remove everyone from the premises.

2. Report the incident to the local authorities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and ask specialists to come. This is necessary even with a small spill of mercury, for example, when a thermometer or fluorescent lamp breaks, since without the appropriate equipment it is impossible to be sure that all the metal will be removed. Even a small dose of mercury indoors has a negative effect on the body.

3. Organize intensive ventilation of the room.

4.Carry out mechanical collection of mercury.
The easiest way to collect mercury is using an ordinary syringe. Collected mercury It is necessary to place it in a container with water, and carefully collect the remaining thermometer in the same container. Never use a vacuum cleaner to collect mercury. Firstly, the vacuum cleaner heats up and increases the evaporation of mercury, and secondly, air passes through the engine of the vacuum cleaner, and an amalgam is formed on the engine parts, which are made of non-ferrous metals, after which the vacuum cleaner itself becomes a distributor of mercury vapor. Droplets of mercury can be collected using paper napkins, soaked in ordinary sunflower oil. The mercury beads will stick to the oily area.
You can also soak newspaper in water and apply the resulting slurry to the site of the mercury spill. then carefully collect the pulp in a container with water. When stirred, the paper will float and the mercury will settle to the bottom.
If mercury gets on the carpet or carpeting, then you need to carefully roll up the carpet, from the periphery to the center, so that the mercury balls do not scatter throughout the room. It is advisable to place the carpet in a whole plastic bag or simply wrap it in plastic film, also from the periphery to the center, and take it outside. Then hang up the carpet or carpeting, and lay a cellophane film underneath it to prevent mercury from contaminating the soil and knock out the carpet with gentle blows. You should also let the carpet or rug hang and air outside.

5. Do not take the shoes in which you walked around the room where mercury was spilled outside this room, and if you take it out, then only in a plastic bag or sealed container, since particles of mercury attach to your feet and you can spread mercury throughout the apartment .

6. Carry out chemical demercurization (removal of mercury).

A. Treat the surface with a warm soap-soda solution (400 g of soap, 500 g of soda per 10 liters of water)

B. The most effective and most harmless and affordable way to demercurize premises is as follows: walls and floors are treated with a 1% iodine solution (per 1 liter of water, 10 ml of a 10% iodine solution, which is sold in a pharmacy). After 30 minutes, the area is treated with the following solution: copper sulfate CuSO4 (30 g of copper sulfate per 1 liter of water) - buy at home. store, sodium sulfite Na2SO3 7H2O (180 g per 1 liter of water) (can be bought at a photo store) and sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3 (baking soda, 40 g per 1 liter of water). The solution is prepared in the following way: first, copper sulfate and sodium sulfite are mixed with water until the precipitate is completely dissolved, and then baking soda is added.

Mercury presence indication

Indication of the degree of contamination is carried out using palladium indicator paper, as well as using special instruments. Old devices of the AGP series (AGP - 01; AGP - 01 M, etc.). Now measurements are carried out using a more modern device RA 915+."

The posing of the question in itself already presupposes the presence of this extremely poisonous liquid metal in lighting devices (they say, any device, by definition, must contain mercury). But today this is far from the case.. Along with the advent of the new millennium, the era of semiconductor LED, more energy-efficient light emitters began, which are increasingly entering our lives. Lamps based on them are not only absolutely harmless and environmentally friendly, but they can also give odds to all sorts of energy-saving devices of the previous generation. If, for example, we level the luminosity indicator, then a traditional light bulb (incandescent) will consume 100 W, a fluorescent lamp daylight– 30 W, based on LED emitters – 16 W.

But, nevertheless, luminescent emitters today are the most common and economical ones.

Therefore, the question remains relevant: is there mercury in energy-saving lamps?

Actually, yes, there is! And there is nothing good in the situation if such a light bulb at home bursts, cracks, or falls and breaks. This is potentially dangerous, but how dangerous?

Mercury in an energy-saving lamp

How much mercury is in lamps?

A traditional thermometer can be used as a reference example. Its flask contains no more than 2.6 g of mercury; content of mercury vapor in fluorescent single-lamp lamp– does not exceed 1 – 5 mg (i.e. several thousandths of a gram). Such an amount cannot cause serious intoxication of the body, however, there are extremely unpleasant consequences.

Mercury content in the lamp

Attention! Back in 2004, applied research was carried out on breaking down fluorescent lamps. “Full-scale tests” were carried out inside a closed container in which the Powersave lamp. The experiment gave the following results:

1. Immediately after breaking the flask, more than 50% of the total amount of mercury vapor it contained is released.
2. Mercury in amounts up to 40% is gradually released from the fragments in the form of vapor. (The remaining amount remains on the bound inner lining of the broken flask).
3. In the first 24 hours, approximately half (i.e., up to 20% of the total amount) of the toxic metal is released from the fragments. As a result, after 24 hours, at least 70% of 2.5 mg of mercury (the most common content) will accumulate in the atmosphere of the apartment, if ventilation is not done.

This will lead to the fact that the maximum permissible concentration of highly reactive and hygroscopic mercury vapor, which will be contained in the atmosphere of the house, will exceed the norm by 5 - 10 times (depending on the area of ​​the space). But the concentration will be within the so-called. "industrial" MPC.

So, summary:

• It is impossible to quickly become poisoned by such an amount of mercury - its content is too insignificant.
• The real danger is the careless behavior of a person when the lamp is broken, and he continues to be in the room, and does not take measures to localize the fragments, as well as through ventilation. However, such harm to health is cumulative in nature, and its consequences manifest themselves over a long period of time.

Types of mercury lamps

• fluorescent tube lamp. This is a well-known fluorescent lamp (LDS). It can be seen almost everywhere: in everyday life, in public places, offices, production premises;

Tubular fluorescent lamps

• compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). In essence, this is the same LDS, only compact and having built-in control gear. There are these in almost every home - they have replaced incandescent lamps;

Compact fluorescent lamps

• UV lamp. It is also called quartz, although this is not entirely true. The filling of such a lamp is the same as that of an LDS, only it does not have a phosphor and is made of special glass. These lamps are also found everywhere: in household disinfecting devices, solariums, beauty salons, medical institutions etc.;

Ultraviolet lamps

• mercury arc lamp (MAL). This device recently served as the main source of illumination of streets, roads, industrial enterprises. Nowadays it is found somewhat less frequently, but is still very popular;

DRL lamp

• sodium arc lamp (HPS). This is also an industrial lamp. She slightly pushed aside the DRL devices, but only a little - her light was too orange. The device can be seen in cantilever street and road lamps;

HPS lamp

• metal halide lamp (MHL). The scope of application is the same as that of DRL devices. In addition, it can be found in relatively “household” devices - movie cameras, projectors, episcopes, etc.

Metal halide lamps

What to do if an energy-saving light bulb breaks?

So, what we feared throughout the entire article happened: the lamp accidentally broke or for some reason burst right in the lamp. What to do if you break an energy-saving lamp at home? We will divide all our actions into three stages according to the instructions below:

1. Mechanical cleaning.
2. Chemical cleaning (demercurization).
3. Disposal.

Mechanical cleaning

As soon as the lamp breaks, first of all we remove all people and animals from the room. The greatest danger from a broken lamp, as I said above, is the first 15-30 minutes - it is during this time that mercury actively evaporates from the phosphor. While the evacuation is underway, we open the windows and close all the doors to the emergency room - we don’t need a draft that will spread mercury vapor throughout the house.

Everything is ready, we leave the apartment and wait at least 30 minutes. During this time, the broken lamp will no longer actively release mercury, and the already released mercury will evaporate into the windows. While ventilation is underway, we are preparing for mechanical cleaning of the room. We will need: a sheet of thick paper, a sponge, any container of appropriate size (glass, jar, etc.), a sponge or just a piece of thick fabric plastic bag, stationery tape.

This is for work. And for personal protection you need rubber gloves and a respirator. Anything will do – from a military half-face to a medical “petal”. If you don’t have a respirator, take a regular cloth, moisten it with water and make a bandage to cover your nose and mouth. A chemical protection suit, as many advise, and rubber boots are not needed.

A petal respirator is available in any pharmacy.

Important! At first glance, such preparations for one broken lamp may seem excessive, but do not underestimate the danger of mercury poisoning. It is not only poisonous, but also tends to accumulate in the body, remaining in it for decades and continuing its destructive effect on almost all organs.

30 minutes have passed, we suit up, collect the fragments with a sponge, sweep them onto paper, and place them in a container. It is needed so as not to cut through the package. Everything is collected, the container is put in a bag. A sponge and a sheet of paper go there too. Now we tape the entire “affected” area with tape. We remove the tape and also put it in the bag. He helped collect the phosphor that had scattered from the lamp. Under no circumstances do we use a vacuum cleaner for this purpose, otherwise a natural chemical bomb will appear in the house, which will release mercury vapor and poison us for many years.

We wipe the shoes with a damp cloth soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate or iodine. The fabric is also in the bag. We tie the bag tightly. If fragments of the lamp get on the carpet (plaid, blanket, clothes, etc.), roll them up tightly and take them out to the balcony. We will decide their fate later. At this point, the first stage of cleaning can be considered complete.

Expert opinion

Alexey Bartosh

Specialist in repair and maintenance of electrical equipment and industrial electronics.

Ask a question to an expert

Many online resources recommend taking all the furniture out of the house and chopping it into pieces, tearing off wallpaper, floors, and plaster. Yes, burn the things and fill the fire pit with Lysol. You don't need to do any of this. The problem is not so global and serious - it can be solved using less radical methods, which I cited above.

Demercurization

No matter how hard we try, mechanical cleaning will not be complete. All the same, somewhere there will be scattered phosphor filled with mercury. It will poison us for decades. But mercury can be bound in it by chemical means, turning it into a harmless compound with other substances. What is available in the house that can be used for demercurization after an energy-saving lamp breaks? Us Any will do from several compositions:

The resulting composition is applied to the affected area and left for 6-8 hours. Special attention You need to pay attention to the cracks between the floorboards, where mercury could roll in and the phosphor could spill out. There is no need to spare the solution - our health depends on the quality of demercurization.

Ask a question to an expert

If you are unsure of your abilities or do not want to carry out demercurization yourself, then you can contact the appropriate service and call a specialist. These same specialists can check the quality of your demercurization.

Disposal of fluorescent light sources

All that remains is to throw away the bag with the broken lamp and materials used for cleaning. Naturally, the tank for household waste will not work for these purposes. You can only dispose of it in special containers designed for hazardous substances. In big cities it is usually not difficult to find such a tank, but in small cities you will not find them during the day with fire. What should I do?

In big cities, finding such tanks is usually not a problem.

Everything is very simple - we call the Ministry of Emergency Situations or the sanitary and epidemiological station, they will tell you what to do. There is another option. On very many large enterprises have their own recycling bins hazardous waste, including broken energy-saving lamps. Let's contact them. Typically, such organizations not only do not refuse, but even welcome such an initiative.

Now about the things that got hit by glass shards. This cannot be done without the help of relevant organizations. We contact them and ask them to determine whether the same carpet or rug poses a danger or not. If not, everything is fine. If yes, then we ask you to carry out demercurization. It's not cheap, but buying new carpet is more expensive.

So we have dealt with the problem of a broken energy-saving lamp and the correct course of action if this happens. Now you know what to do if such a problem arises.

Since childhood, everyone has been familiar with the design of the “Ilyich light bulb.” It consists of a base, a glass bulb and a thin tungsten hair inside it. An energy-saving lamp does not have such a filament. It contains argon gas and mercury vapor inside, and the inner glass surface is coated with a phosphor that has the property of emitting light when in contact with ultraviolet radiation. In this way, a diffused glow is obtained.

Advantages and disadvantages

The service life of fluorescent lamps lasts as long as the phosphor is able to function, and, unlike a conventional incandescent lamp, is not dependent on a fine tungsten filament. In quantitative terms, it is 10 times greater than that of incandescent lamps. This can be considered one of the main advantages.

The main advantage lies in the name itself. It allows you to use electricity economically. There are no losses in the form of thermal radiation; 95% of the electricity is converted into light. It's easy to compare. If you touch one or the other lamp with your hand, you can feel that the incandescent lamp has warmed up, but remains cold, even if it works all night.

The industry produces lamps with power from 3 to 90 W. If earlier to illuminate a room of 20 square meters. meters, at least a 100-watt incandescent light bulb was used, now it is enough to install a 20-watt fluorescent lamp. The savings are significant.

The disadvantages include high price, but the costs will be recouped due to energy savings and long term operation.

Another quality that is not in favor of a fluorescent lamp is the mercury content in it. This is dangerous to health, since the poison, entering the human body, can cause irreparable harm. But the glass for such lamps is chosen to be quite durable, so it is not possible to accidentally break it. If the fluorescent lamp does break, a number of measures must be taken.

The effect of mercury vapor on the human body

If an energy-saving lamp breaks, there is a possibility that you will cut yourself on the glass. But this is not the main danger. Mercury vapors that enter the air space of a room can cause poisoning of people, which will manifest itself in the form of headaches, weakness and deterioration of well-being. Long-term exposure to mercury can cause damage internal organs, central nervous system, in critical situations - to death.

The lamp broke. What to do?

The question arises, what to do if the light bulb does break, and mercury vapor is so dangerous.

First: don't panic. If there are several people in the apartment, urgently evacuate the extra people; To eliminate the consequences, one, maximum two people should remain to avoid mass poisoning. Close the doors tightly to prevent harmful impurities from leaking into other rooms, open all windows to create a draft to reduce the effect of vapors on the respiratory system. Collect the fragments in a bag and, as far as possible, seal it tightly without touching it with your bare hands.

Better to work in rubber gloves. Wipe the dirty areas with a damp cloth and place them in the bag as well. Carpets should be taken outside and beaten, putting inside down, but not to the ground; To prevent soil contamination, place a damp sheet or oilcloth.

Demercurization (the process necessary to neutralize mercury) must be carried out. For this there is special services. If it is not possible to invite specialists, the room where the mercury lamp has broken will be properly cleaned using the following compounds:

• solution of potassium permanganate (2 g per 1 liter of water). Apply the resulting mixture to the contaminated area and wash it off with soapy water after 6–7 hours;
• solution baking soda(400 g of soda per 10 liters of water and a little soap foam). Chlorine-based bleaches can also be used;
• for minor stains, you can take 100 ml of iodine per liter of water and treat the surface with this composition.

Disposal

Since all fluorescent lamps contain mercury, they should never be disposed of in garbage bins located near the house. A light bulb that breaks while loading household waste causes enormous harm. environment. Cities have services that deal with hazardous waste disposal. Broken fluorescent lamps should be placed in a bag and handed over for further recycling.

There are enterprises where they separate glass, phosphor, and aluminum bases, which produces secondary raw materials for use. It is also important how much mercury, glass, and aluminum can be saved.

LED bulbs

Eat promising direction in modern lighting technology. Environmentally harmful daylight emitters can be replaced by LED lamps. They are more economical and environmentally friendly. This is a good alternative, since you can use lighting sources that do not contain harmful compounds without any fear. Even if such a light bulb breaks, it can be disposed of without harming the environment.

Bottom line

To summarize, we can state the fact that an energy-saving lamp has its pros and cons. Positive sides– this is energy saving, long service life, fire safety associated with the absence of thermal energy release. When any glass object breaks, including a toxic one, if the integrity of the body is damaged, maximum efforts must be made to reduce unpleasant consequences to a minimum. In this case, many of these consequences can be avoided.

Electricity gives us light, but it costs money, so people naturally strive to save it, but it is not at all necessary to sit in semi-darkness. It will help you with this energy saving light bulb.

It differs from a conventional light bulb not only in the reduced amount of electricity consumed with the same quality of lighting, but also in the mercury content. And this chemical element is dangerous to human health. Therefore, it is very important to know what to do if an energy-saving light bulb breaks in the house.

If a mercury lamp breaks

Energy-saving light bulbs come from European, Russian and Chinese production. In the first case, mercury is used for their production in the form of an amalgam (up to 300 mg), which is less dangerous to human health; in other cases, 3-5 g of liquid mercury is used, which is much more dangerous. If any of them are damaged, they must be cleaned. There are several basic rules for how to act in such a situation:

1. Open the windows indoors. It is very important to ventilate well the place where the light bulb broke, so it is better to close them no earlier than half an hour later. During this time, you must leave the room and pick up your pets.
2. Remove glass shards. You cannot use a vacuum cleaner, broom, mop or brush for this. A piece of thick paper or cardboard folded into a scoop shape is best. You can use adhesive tape or a sponge to collect the powder. The collected material (glass and mercury) must be placed in a tight plastic bag, it is better if it is sealed.
3. Carry out a wet cleaning of the entire room. To wash floors, you need to make a solution with bleach (for this you can dilute “Belizna” or “Domestos”), or a 1% solution of potassium permanganate. It must be done starting from the edges of the room and moving towards the middle to prevent the fragments from spreading.
4. Wash the soles of your shoes. To do this, we use the same rag and solution as for cleaning the room.
5. At the end of work The rag used to wash the floor must be placed in a bag with the collected lamp fragments. Those clothes and interior items that have been exposed to fragments of a broken mercury lamp must be disposed of. After all, small particles of glass or mercury can get stuck in the folds and subsequently pose a threat to human health.

It is very important to carry out all manipulations using rubber seals. This will protect your hands from cuts, since the fragments of such light bulbs are very thin, almost invisible, and from mercury getting on your bare skin. It is also worth wearing a protective mask on your face.

Since mercury is liquid, even if such a light bulb is not completely broken, but only cracked, it should still be replaced, because the vapors of this chemical element will be released and concentrated indoors, which can lead to. But such products cannot just be thrown away; you must adhere to the established rules for recycling energy-saving light bulbs.

In cases where several energy-saving light bulbs containing liquid mercury have broken in a room, it is better to contact specialists (the Ministry of Emergency Situations) so that they can collect the spilled hazardous material. chemical substance. Also, then it is better to measure the concentration of mercury vapor in the air. If it exceeds the maximum permissible concentration (0.003 mg/m3), then additional treatment of the contaminated room may be necessary.

A broken one will not cause harm to the health of your family if everything is done according to the instructions in the article.