Recycling oriented comparison of mercury distribution in new and spent fluorescent lamps and their potential risk

Journal
Chemosphere  
Volume
169
Start Page
618
End Page
626
Citation
Chemosphere (169): 618-626 (2017)
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.11.104
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84999040158
Publisher
Elsevier Science
This study compares the mercury distribution in the vapor phase, the phosphor powder and the glass matrix of new and spent fluorescent lamps. The spent fluorescent lamps were obtained at the collection yards of a public waste management company in Hamburg, Germany. An innovative systematic sampling method is utilized to collect six spent and eight corresponding new, off-the-shelf fluorescent lamp samples. The efficiency of several acid digestion methods for the determination of the elemental composition was studied and elemental mass fractions of K, Na, Y, Ca, Ba, Eu, Al, Pb, Mg, Hg, and P were measured. The study also finds aqua regia to be the best reagent for acid digestion. However, no significant difference in mercury distribution was found in the different phases of the new and spent fluorescent lamps.
Subjects
elemental analysis
sampling
sorting analysis
spent fluorescent lamps
WEEE
DDC Class
540: Chemie