SOIL POLLUTION CAUSED DUE TO TUBE

LIGHTS

Our little efforts to preserve our nature

LIGHT IS ESSENTIAL FOR EVERY HUMAN BEING. DURING THE DAY WE HAVE SUNLIGHT BUT DURING NIGHT IT IS ELECTRICITY WHICH IS IN THE FORM OF TUBELIGHT AND OTHER SUCH TUBES WHICH PROVIDE US WITH LIGHT. HENCE, THEY ARE ADVANTAGEOUS TO US BUT THE ONLY DISADVANTAGE OF TUBELIGHT IS THAT IT CONTAINS HARMFUL HAZARDOUS MATERIAL WHICH IS HARMFUL TO THE ENVIROMENT.

Introduction

EVERY YEAR , THOUSANDS OF TUBELIGHTS ARE BEING MANUFACTURED AND SOLD IN OUR COUNTRY. THIS IS BECAUSE TUBELIGHTS ARE THE MOST CHEAPEST AND WIDELY USED ELECTRONIC DEVICE . ONLY THE GLASS AND THE METAL PARTS ARE RECYCLED WHEN THE TUBELIGHTS ARE DUMPED , WHEREAS REMAINING PARTS ARE THROWN AWAY. THIS REMAINING PART WHICH IS THROWN AWAY CONSISTS OF MERCURY AND PHOSPHOROUS WHICH IS HAZARDOUSLY HARMFUL TO THE ENVIROMENT .

STATEMENT OF NECESSITY

SOILS ARE DYNAMIC BODIES IN EQUILIBRIUM WITH ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES ACTING ON THEM. A WIDE VARIETY OF FACTORS INFLUENCE METAL TRANSLOCATION FROM THE ROOT TO THE SHOOT.IN SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTS, THE UPTAKE OF METALS FROM SOIL IS GREATER IN PLANTS GROWTH IN POTS OF SOIL IN THE GREENHOUSE/SCREEN HOUSE THAN FROM THE SAME SOIL IN THE FIELD DUE TO THE FACT THAT:DIFFERENCES IN MICRO CLIMATE AND SOIL MOISTURE ROOTS OF CONTAINER-GROWN PLANTS GROWING SOLELY IN CONTAMINATED SOIL WHILE THOSE IN THE FIELD-GROWN PLANTS MAY REACH DOWN TO LESS CONTAMINATED SOIL.

Objectives under Environment Awareness Drive…..

MERCURY-BEARING LAMPS (FLUORESCENT, COMPACT FLUORESCENT,MERCURY VAPOR, SODIUM VAPOR AND METAL MULTI-VAPORS ANDMIXED) USE MERCURY AS A VITAL COMPONENT FOR THEIR FUNCTIONING.MERCURY CONCENTRATION IN THESE LAMPS VARIES CONSIDERABLYDEPENDING ON THE MANUFACTURER, THE TYPE OF LAMP AND THEMANUFACTURING YEAR.

Once the life time of these lamps have ended, they generate a

hazardous waste due to the release of mercury, which must be

properly disposed of. As the use of fluorescent lamps (FLs),

including Fluorescent Tube Light (FTL) and Compact Fluorescent

Lamp (CFL), is increasing due to its energy efficiency over the

conventional incandescent lamps;

CFLS CONTAIN A VERY SMALL AMOUNT OF MERCURY SEALED WITHIN THE GLASS TUBING - AN AVERAGE OF 4 MILLIGRAMS .BY COMPARISON THE OLDER THERMOMETERS CONTAIN ABOUT 500 MILLIGRAM OF MERCURY – AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO MERCURY IN 125 CFLS .MERCURY IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF CFLS; IT ALLOWS THE BULB TO BE ESSENTIAL PART OF LIGHT SOURCE. NO MERCURY IS RELEASED WHEN BULBS ARE INTACT OR IN USE .MOST MAKERS OF LIGHT BULB HAVE REDUCED MERCURY IN THEIR FLUORESCENT LIGHTING PRODUCTS. THANKS TO TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES THE AVERAGE MERCURY CONTENT IN CFLS HAS DROPPED AT LEAST 20 % IN THE PAST YEAR. SOME MANUFACTURERS HAVE EVEN MADE FURTHER REDUCTIONS, DROPPING MERCURY CONTENT TO 1.4-2.5MILLIGRAMS PER LIGHT BULB.

NATURE, OCCURRENCE, DISTRIBUTION & CHEMISTRY OFMERCURY IN THE ENVIRONMENT……..MERCURY IS THE ONLY METAL ELEMENT, WHICH IS LIQUID AT AMBIENTTEMPERATURE AND ALSO CALLED QUICKSILVER BECAUSE OF ITS SILVERYWHITE APPEARANCE. IT RARELY OCCURS FREE IN NATURE AND MAINLYFOUND AS BRIGHT RED CRYSTALLINE SOLID CINNABAR ORE (HGS).MERCURY IS ODOURLESS, LUSTROUS LIQUID METAL THAT SINKS IN WATERAND FALLS UNDER HEAVY METALS CATEGORY.

IT IS MOBILE, DUCTILE ANDCONVERTS INTO MALLEABLE MASS ON BEING SOLIDIFIED AT –39 0C, WHICHMAY BE CUT WITH A KNIFE. EACH AND EVERY ATOM OF MERCURY ISCAPABLE BIO-CHEMICALLY TO DISABLE AN ENZYME OR OTHER CRITICALPROTEIN IN OUR BODY. THUS, MERCURY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCESIGNIFICANT HEALTH EFFECTS THROUGH SERIES OF BIO CHEMICAL REACTIONSIN OUR BODY. Besides its elemental form (Hg0), mercury can be

found in the

nature in different speciation conditions. One of them is ionic

mercury, that is, under certain environmental conditions, able to

originate organic compounds known as organo-mercury. Mercury

can exist as a cationic species because of the oxidation of the

elemental mercury, producing mercurous ((Hg+1)) and mercuric

((Hg+2)) ions.

LIGHTING INDUSTRY HAS AN ANNUAL GROWTH OF ABOUT 12% PER ANNUMIN THE LAST 4 YEARS. AMONGST THE VARIOUS PRODUCTS, THECONSUMPTION OF CFLS HAS CONTRIBUTED A VERY LARGE GROWTH RATE,AS HIGH AS 50% IN 2006. THIS PRODUCT SEGMENT HAS REGISTEREDTOTAL QUANTITY OF > 100 MILLION PIECES DURING 2006 AND AS PER THEESTIMATES; THE FIGURE IS LIKELY TO CROSS 140 MILLION PIECES THISYEAR I.E. YEAR 2007. India has crossed 100 million.

Incandescent lamp (GLS) production has further increased by

more than 20% during 2006. Similarly, the fluorescent lamp

market has shown a growth of 10% in 2006. HID lamp segment

has equally shown good results of 24% growth in 2006. It is

estimated that the luminaries market has been growing at least

25 to 30% per annum for the last two years.

QUEZON CITY. GROUPS CONCERNED WITH OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH TODAY PRESSED THE GOVERNMENT AND THE INDUSTRY TO INTRODUCE A SYSTEM FOR THE ENVIRONMENTALLY-SOUND MANAGEMENT OF MERCURY-CONTAINING LAMP WASTE FOR HOUSEHOLDS AND SMALL BUSINESSES AND INSTITUTIONAL USERS.THE GROUPS RENEWED THEIR APPEAL FOR ACTION AFTER THE ECOWASTE COALITION’S ALERTOXIC PATROL DETECTED DISTURBING LEVELS OF MERCURY VAPOR IN LAMP WASTE RECYCLING SECTIONS OF THE PIER 18 GARBAGE TRANSFER STATION IN TONDO, MANILA.

THE TOXIC INVESTIGATION WAS HELD IN DOUBLE OBSERVANCE OF THE EARTH DAY ON APRIL 22 AND THE WORLD DAY FOR SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK ON APRIL 28.COMPRISING THE INVESTIGATIVE TEAM WERE THE REPRESENTATIVES OF BAN TOXICS, GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR INCINERATOR ALTERNATIVES, HEALTH CARE WITHOUT HARM AND THE ECOWASTE COALITION SECRETARIAT.“THE INFORMAL RECYCLING OF CFLS IS DONE IN THE MOST ARCHAIC WAY WHERE SPENT LAMPS ARE FIRST COLLECTED AND STORED IN HEAPS OR KEPT IN OLD RICE SACKS AND THEN INDIVIDUALLY SMASHED WITH A HAMMER TO RETRIEVE THE RECYCLABLE PARTS,” SAID THONY DIZON, CHEMICAL SAFETY PROJECT COORDINATOR OF THE ECOWASTE COALITION.“WE NEED TO EMPHASIZE THAT IT IS NOT ONLY THE LAMP WASTE RECYCLERS WHO BEAR THE BRUNT OF TOXIC POLLUTION. THE MERCURY VAPOR ESCAPES AS THE GLASS TUBING IS BROKEN AND TRAVELS AROUND, EXPOSING THE WORKERS, THEIR CHILDREN AND THE ENVIRONMENT TO THIS TOXIC METAL,

“THE DATA WE COLLECTED SHOULD SERVE AS A WARNING SIGNAL OF TOXIC DANGER IN OUR MIDST. OUR INVESTIGATION, WE HOPE, WOULD PROMPT GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS LEADERS INTO ENFORCING MERCURY POLLUTION PREVENTION MEASURES SUCH AS A PRACTICAL SYSTEM FOR COLLECTING LAMP WASTE AND ENSURING THEIR SAFE MANAGEMENT,” HE SAID.USING A HAND-HELD INSTRUMENT CALLED “JEROME J-405,” AN AMBIENT AIR ANALYZER, THE TOXIC PATROLLERS TODAY VISITED AND OBTAINED MERCURY VAPOR DATA FROM PLACES WHERE THE BREAKING OF MERCURY-CONTAINING COMPACT FLUORESCENT LAMPS OR CFLS IS TAKING PLACE.DURING THE INVESTIGATION, 14 USED CFLS OF DIFFERENT BRANDS AND WATTAGES WERE TESTED IN TWO DIFFERENT CFL BREAKING SITES

SOIL POLLUTION, OR SOIL CONTAMINATION, IS THE ACCUMULATION OF MAN-MADE TOXIC SUBSTANCES IN SOIL THAT HAS A NEGATIVE EFFECT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE. COMMON POLLUTANTS INCLUDE HERBICIDES AND PESTICIDES; LITTER AND WASTE. SOIL POLLUTION IS USUALLY CAUSED BY MISTREATMENT OF THE SOIL THROUGH POOR CULTIVATION OR FARMING PRACTICES, INDUSTRIAL WASTE DUMPING AND MINERAL UTILIZATION. SOIL POLLUTION CAN BE PREVENTED OR AT LEAST REDUCED BY EDUCATING OURSELVES ON THE CAUSE AND EFFECTS OF SOIL POLLUTION; AND THE WAYS TO STOP IT.

THE PROCESSES OF DISMANTLING AND DISPOSING OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN THE THIRD WORLD LEAD TO A NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE GRAPHIC. LIQUID AND ATMOSPHERIC RELEASES END UP IN BODIES OF WATER, GROUNDWATER, SOIL, AND AIR AND THEREFORE IN LAND AND SEA ANIMALS – BOTH DOMESTICATED AND WILD, IN CROPS EATEN BY BOTH ANIMALS AND HUMAN, AND IN DRINKING WATER.[36]

ONE STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS IN GUIYU, CHINA FOUND THE FOLLOWING:

AIRBORNE DIOXINS – ONE TYPE FOUND AT 100 TIMES LEVELS PREVIOUSLY MEASUREDLEVELS OF CARCINOGENS IN DUCK PONDS AND RICE PADDIES EXCEEDED INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR AGRICULTURAL AREAS AND CADMIUM, COPPER, NICKEL, AND LEAD LEVELS IN RICE PADDIES WERE ABOVE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDSHEAVY METALS FOUND IN ROAD DUST – LEAD OVER 300 TIMES THAT OF A CONTROL VILLAGE’S ROAD DUST AND COPPER OVER 100 TIMES[37]

A FLUORESCENT LIGHTING SYSTEM CONSISTS OF TWO OR THREE MAINCOMPONENTS: THE FLUORESCENT LAMP, THE BALLAST, AND THE STARTERSYSTEM. THE BASIC CONCEPT BEHIND A FLUORESCENT LAMP IS THAT AFLOW OF ELECTRICAL CURRENT OCCURS BETWEEN TWO METAL CONDUCTORSPLACED IN A GLASS TUBE, A PROCESS ALSO KNOWN AS ARCING. THATCURRENT FLOW PASSES THROUGH THE GASES IN THE TUBE (ARGON AND ASMALL AMOUNT OF MERCURY IN A GASEOUS PHASE) AND EXCITES THEMERCURY ATOMS IN THE GAS PHASE. THE EXCITED ATOMS EMITPHOTONS, SOME OF WHICH ARE VIBRATING AT ULTRAVIOLET FREQUENCY.

A 40-WATT FLUORESCENT TUBE EMITS 2150 LUMENS AS COMPARED TO 455 LUMENS BY A STANDARD INCANDESCENT 40-WATT BULBIN ADDITION , FLUORESCENT TUBES TYPICALLY LAST LONGER AND CREATE MUCH LESS HEAT THAN INCANDESCENT LAMPSTHE NEWER GENERATION , IN FLUORESCENT TUBE CONTAINS ,T-8 AND T-5 TUBE LIGHTS ESPECIALLY WITH TRI BAND PHOSPHOR AND IS HIGHLY ENERGY EFFECIENT

THE PROCESSES OF DISMANTLING AND DISPOSING OF ELECTRONIC WASTE IN THE THIRD WORLD LEAD TO A NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AS ILLUSTRATED IN THE GRAPHIC. LIQUID AND ATMOSPHERIC RELEASES END UP IN BODIES OF WATER, GROUNDWATER, SOIL, AND AIR AND THEREFORE IN LAND AND SEA ANIMALS – BOTH DOMESTICATED AND WILD, IN CROPS EATEN BY BOTH ANIMALS AND HUMAN, AND IN DRINKING WATER.[36]

ONE STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS IN GUIYU, CHINA FOUND THE FOLLOWING:

AIRBORNE DIOXINS – ONE TYPE FOUND AT 100 TIMES LEVELS PREVIOUSLY MEASUREDLEVELS OF CARCINOGENS IN DUCK PONDS AND RICE PADDIES EXCEEDED INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR AGRICULTURAL AREAS AND CADMIUM, COPPER, NICKEL, AND LEAD LEVELS IN RICE PADDIES WERE ABOVE INTERNATIONAL STANDARDSHEAVY METALS FOUND IN ROAD DUST – LEAD OVER 300 TIMES THAT OF A CONTROL VILLAGE’S ROAD DUST AND COPPER OVER 100 TIMES[37]

AT THE LAMP MANUFACTURING LEVEL, FLUORESCENT LAMP MANUFACTURINGUNITS HAVE VARIED LEVEL OF WASTE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES. SOMEHAVE ADOPTED PRACTICE OF PROPER CRUSHING, UNDER VACUUMEXTRACTION, FOLLOWED BY SEGREGATION OF GLASS (WITH & WITHOUTMERCURY CONTAMINATION), PHOSPHOR POWDER AND LIQUID/VAPORMERCURY. THE MERCURY VAPOR IS COLLECTED AND ADSORBED ON ANACTIVATED CARBON PAD. MOST OTHERS HAVE VERY CRUDE WAY OFHANDLING AND DISPOSING MERCURY-BEARING WASTES GENERATED FROMTHE PROCESS. MANY MANUFACTURING UNITS HAVE CRUDE TYPE OFDISTILLATION FACILITY FOR THE PURIFICATION OF RAW MERCURY OBTAINEDFROM THE MARKET. THE RESIDUE OBTAINED FROM THE DISTILLATION OFRAW MERCURY IS REPORTEDLY SENT TO TSDF.

PRESENT TREATMENT & DISPOSAL PRACTICES IN INDIA

AS PER THE PRESENT OBSERVED PRACTICE AT CONSUMER LEVEL IN THESOCIETY AT LARGE, OFTEN, THE USED LAMPS ARE COLLECTED BY THEKABARI FROM THE HOUSEHOLDS AND COLLECTIVELY HANDED OVER TO THEGLASS RECYCLERS FOR THE RECOVERY OF GLASS MATERIAL. THIS IS ALLOPERATIVE IN A HIGHLY UNORGANIZED SECTOR.IT HAS, ALSO, BEEN OBSERVED THAT, THE USED LAMPS ARE THROWN INTHE GARBAGE BINS AND FINALLY INTO THE MUNICIPAL GARBAGEDUMPSITES, CONTAMINATING AIR, WATER AND SOIL. MOST OF THE USEDLAMPS ARE BROKEN EITHER AT TRANSIT SOLID WASTE BINS (PROVIDED BYLOCAL CIVIC AUTHORITY) OR BROKEN DURING THE TRANSPORT TO THE FINALDISPOSAL SITE. A PORTION OF THE MERCURY, IN VAPOR FORM, IS RELEASEDINTO THE AIR; WHEREAS REST OF THE MERCURY IS RELEASED ONTO THE SOILWITH FURTHER POSSIBILITY OF GETTING INTO THE SURFACE AND/OR GROUNDWATER BODIES THROUGH THE LEACHATE FROM SOIL.

Consumption

SOME COMPUTER COMPONENTS CAN BE REUSED IN ASSEMBLING NEW COMPUTER PRODUCTS, WHILE OTHERS ARE REDUCED TO METALS THAT CAN BE REUSED IN APPLICATIONS AS VARIED AS CONSTRUCTION, FLATWARE, AND JEWELRY.[62]

SUBSTANCES FOUND IN LARGE QUANTITIES INCLUDE EPOXY RESINS, FIBERGLASS, PCBS, PVC (POLYVINYL CHLORIDES), THERMOSETTING PLASTICS, LEAD, TIN, COPPER, SILICON, BERYLLIUM, CARBON, IRON AND ALUMINIUM.

ELEMENTS FOUND IN SMALL AMOUNTS INCLUDE CADMIUM, MERCURY, AND THALLIUM.[65]

ELEMENTS FOUND IN TRACE AMOUNTS INCLUDE AMERICIUM, ANTIMONY, ARSENIC, BARIUM, BISMUTH, BORON, COBALT, EUROPIUM, GALLIUM, GERMANIUM, GOLD, INDIUM, LITHIUM, MANGANESE, NICKEL, NIOBIUM, PALLADIUM, PLATINUM, RHODIUM, RUTHENIUM, SELENIUM, SILVER, TANTALUM, TERBIUM, THORIUM, TITANIUM, VANADIUM, AND YTTRIUM.

ALMOST ALL ELECTRONICS CONTAIN LEAD AND TIN (AS SOLDER) AND COPPER (AS WIRE AND PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD TRACKS), THOUGH THE USE OF LEAD-FREE SOLDER IS NOW SPREADING RAPIDLY.

Pollution caused due to e-waste

ACIDIC SURFACE WATERS CAN CONTAIN SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF MERCURYWHEN THE PH VALUES ARE BETWEEN FIVE AND SEVEN, THE MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN THE WATER WILL INCREASE DUE TO MOBILISATION OF MERCURY IN THE GROUNDONCE MERCURY HAS REACHED SURFACE WATERS OR SOILS MICROORGANISMS CAN CONVERT IT TO METHYL MERCURY, A SUBSTANCE THAT CAN BE ABSORBED QUICKLY BY MOST ORGANISMS AND IS KNOWN TO CAUSE NERVE DAMAGE

Enviromental effects

CONTRIBUTE LESS WASTE TO HELP PREVENT SOIL POLLUTION. PURCHASE GLASS AND OTHER REUSABLE CONTAINERS INSTEAD OF THROWING AWAY PLASTIC OR PAPER REGULARLY. RECYCLE PAPER AND PLASTIC THROUGH YOUR LOCAL WASTE MANAGEMENT COMPANY TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WASTE THAT IS SENT TO A LANDFILL. THE NATIONAL SCIENCE DIGITAL LIBRARY, NSDL, REPORTS THAT REUSING AND RECYCLING PRODUCTS WILL HELP CONSERVE NATURAL RESOURCES AND SAVE MORE LAND FROM CONTAMINATION.

REUSE :TUBE LIGHTSRECYCLE :TUBE LIGHTS&SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT!

THANK YOU….