Broken or faulty energy-saving lamp

You can turn to the municipality or to the shop to dispose of a faulty, yet intact energy-saving lamp.

My energy-saving lamp has broken. What to do?

Do’s

1. Make sure that people do not tread on the broken material in order to keep it from being dispersed.
2. Make sure that children, pregnant women and animals leave the room.
3. Open windows and doors, but lock the doors leading to other rooms.
4. Switch off the heating and air conditioning.
5. Leave the room and wait 15 minutes before you start clearing. Mercury concentrations will decrease as a result of ventilation.
6. If you suspect having trodden on the broken material: take off your shoes, pack them in a plastic bag and put it outside.

Don’ts

• Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clear the broken parts of the energy-saving lamp. This is because the air flow and inherent warming will cause the mercury to evaporate more quickly, enhancing exposure and creating the risk of contamination of other rooms. An exception is the use of a vacuum cleaner to clean a fixed floor carpet (refer to instructions ‘cleaning soft floor carpeting’). When you have finished, remove the dust bag immediately, put it in a plastic bag and dispose of it as chemical waste. Let the vacuum cleaner run outside for 15 minutes, before using it again indoors.
• Do not use a broom or duster and pan to clear the broken parts of an energy-saving lamp.
• Never use a washing machine to clean contaminated clothing or material that has been in contact with the remainders of the lamp (glass, metal or powder); this would cause mercury contamination of the washing machine and waste water. Put contaminated clothing and material in a bag and dispose of it as chemical waste.

Necessities for cleaning:

• Washing-up bowl
• Broad tape or adhesive tape
• Rubber gloves
• Kitchen paper roll
• Plastic garbage bags
• Glass jar with metal cover

Instructions for cleaning the broken parts of an energy-saving lamp
Do not tread on the broken material, so that spreading is avoided. Remove children, pregnant women and animals from the room. Open windows and doors, close doors leading to other rooms and switch off the heating and air conditioning. Ventilate the room for 15 minutes, so that mercury concentrations will decrease. Use rubber gloves to clear the material of the broken lamp. Wrap plastic bags around your shoes. Lay a plastic bag on a clean floor area near the broken lamp. Place the glass jar with metal cover in the wash-up bowl and place the whole on the plastic bag. Use the glass jar to collect the glass, powder and parts of the broken lamp as well as the clearing material.

The way in which a broken lamp has to be cleared depends upon the type of surface: soft or hard. Below please find two descriptions of cleaning methods.

Clearing a broken lamp on a soft surface.

1. Work from the outside to the inside. Pick up the glass pieces of the lamp carefully and put them in a glass jar.
2. Use broad tape or adhesive tape to clear the little piece of glass and the powder; put these in the glass jar as well.
3. If possible, do not use a vacuum cleaner, unless this is the only way to clean fixed floor carpeting. If you use a vacuum cleaner: first put the visible material in the glass jar, vacuum-clean the contaminated part and remove the dust bag outside. Let the vacuum cleaner run outside for 15 minutes, before you take it back indoors. Make sure you ventilate the room properly the next time you use the vacuum cleaner.
4. Put the glass jar in a plastic bag, close the bag using tape and place it outside.
5. Wash your hands thoroughly after clearing.

Clearing a broken lamp on a hard surface.

1. Work from the outside to the inside. Pick up the glass pieces of the lamp carefully and put them in a glass jar.
2. Use broad tape or adhesive tape to clear the little piece of glass and the powder; put these in the glass jar as well.
3. Wipe or dab the contaminated surface using a moist piece of kitchen paper and put it in the glass jar as well.
4. Do not use a brush, vacuum cleaner or duster and pan.
5. Put the glass jar in a plastic bag, close the bag using tape and place it outside.
6. Wash your hands thoroughly after clearing.
7. Ventilate the room for a couple of hours.

After clearing up a broken energy-saving lamp

• Clothing, linen or any other soft fabrics that have been in direct contact with the broken glass or powder of the lamp must be disposed of. Such contaminated materials must not be cleaned in a washing machine; neither may they be offered for chemical dry-cleaning. Collect the contaminated material, put it in a plastic bag and lock it off. Place the plastic bag outdoors.
• Clothing, linen or any other soft fabrics that have not been in direct contact with the broken glass or powder of the lamp may be cleaned in a washing machine.
• Shoes that have been contaminated should not be discarded: clean the soles very thoroughly using a moist cloth. This cloth must also be put in a plastic bag and placed outside. Then make sure the plastic bag(s) containing the contaminated material are disposed of as chemical waste at the municipal waste depot.