Danger Will Robinson.
What if I accidentally break a fluorescent lamp in my house?, Maine State Department of Environmntal Proteciton, Bureau of Remediation and Waste Management, Maine Department of Environmental Pro
The lamp contains a small amount of mercury, but you can clean this up yourself if you do the following:
- Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean up the breakage. This will spread the mercury vapor and dust throughout the area and could potentially contaminate the vacuum.
- Keep people and pets away from the breakage area until the cleanup is complete.
- Ventilate the area by opening windows, and leave the area for 15 minutes before returning to begin the cleanup. Mercury vapor levels will be lower by then.
- For maximum protection and if you have them, wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the sharp glass.
- Carefully remove the larger pieces and place them in a secure closed container, preferably a glass container with a metal screw top lid and seal like a canning jar.1 A glass jar with a good seal works best to contain any mercury vapors inside.2
- Next, begin collecting the smaller pieces and dust. You can use two stiff pieces of paper such as index cards or playing cards to scoop up pieces.
- Pat the area with the sticky side of duct tape, packing tape or masking tape to pick up fine particles. Wipe the area with a wet wipe or damp paper towel to pick up even finer particles.
- Put all waste and materials into the glass container, including all material used in the cleanup that may have been contaminated with mercury. Label the container as “Universal Waste - broken lamp.”
- Remove the container with the breakage and cleanup materials from your home. This is particularly important if you do not have a glass container.
- Continue ventilating the room for several hours.
- Wash your hands and face.
- Take the glass container with the waste material to a facility that accepts “universal waste” for recycling. To determine where your municipality has made arrangements for recycling of this type of waste, call your municipal office or find your town in this list municipal collection sites.
- When a break happens on carpeting, homeowners may consider removing throw rugs or the area of carpet where the breakage occurred as a precaution, particularly if the rug is in an area frequented by infants, small children or pregnant women.
- Finally, if the carpet is not removed, open the window to the room during the next several times you vacuum the carpet to provide good ventilation.
The next time you replace a lamp, consider putting a drop cloth on the floor so that any accidental breakage can be easily cleaned up. If consumers remain concerned regarding safety, they may consider not utilizing fluorescent lamps in situations where they could easily be broken. Consumers may also consider avoiding
1Other jars that can be made of glass and also work are pickle, peanut butter and applesauce jars. Not ideal but also a good choice for containing breakage is a heavy duty #2 plastic container with either a screw lid or push-on lid such as a joint compound bucket or certain kitty litter-type containers.
2If the only suitable jar available has food in it, you may need to empty it into another container before using it.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) facts regarding the Prospect, Maine Compact Fluorescent Lamp breakage.
Upon receiving a call from a citizen in Prospect, Maine who was concerned about mercury exposure from the accidental breakage of a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), a Department spill response staff person went to the individual’s house on March 14, 2007 to evaluate the levels of mercury present. The Department has extensive experience with other types of mercury spills, but did not have experience with the mercury levels that might occur from a CFL breaking on carpet. In addition to evaluating the levels in the home, the Department planned to use this breakage event as a means of gathering information to better respond to future events.
A single CFL fell onto carpet in the homeowner’s child’s bedroom two days earlier. The CFL had been dropped when it was being cleaned. It fell and hit a metal vent between the second floor and first floor. The carpet, squares of multi colored carpet, was planned for removal as part of an intended renovation. Prior to the DEP staff person’s arrival, the visible pieces of the bulb had already been cleaned up. All measured air levels mentioned below reflect levels two days after the initial breakage and not necessarily the levels at the time of breakage.
The Department staff person arrived with a Lumex instrument, which is designed to take instantaneous mercury vapor readings. The Department responders work under a guidance value of 300 nanograms per cubic meter (ng/m3)[1] for mercury. If readings are 300 ng/m3 or less, the area is considered to not require any additional actions and no additional clean up advice is given. In situations with values over 300 ng/m3, the Department responder consults with the State Toxicologist for a more refined evaluation. This consultation considers whether additional actions are warranted to clean up the spill or whether precautionary actions need to be taken to protect the homeowner. In addition, if individuals are particularly concerned about mercury related hazards or any of the mercury readings, they are also referred to the State Toxicologist.
When a Department responder goes to the site of a spill, there are typically two types of instrument measurements that they would take. The first is an evaluation of the source of the spill. This is to identify any hot spots or areas of concern, to determine the extent of the spill, and whether it has been tracked extensively throughout the home. This helps determine the extent of the effort to clean up the spill, if any. This type of measurement is generally at the floor or point of impact. The second type of measurement taken are those readings that are more useful for homeowner exposure and are typically in the “breathing zone”, at an intermediate height for children and a higher height more appropriate for adults.
The Lumex values as recorded by the Department responder at the Prospect home were:
| Sample Location | Mercury Concentration[2] (ng/m3) | %R[3] |
| Base level in yard | 2 | %R less than 10 |
| Bedroom door at breathing zone (three feet) | 49 | %R 20 |
| Carpet in bedroom | 34 | %R 4 |
| Air in bedroom at breathing zone (three feet) | 31 | %R 11 |
| Bag with clean up debris | 556 | %R 16 |
| Underneath the carpet square where the break happened | 36 | %R 14 |
| Over the carpet where bulb broke | 1,939 | %R 12 |
| Toys | 93 | %R less than 25% |
| Carpet on first floor under vent to downstairs where lamp broke | 18 | %R 6 |
| Exist baseline | 15 | %R 6 |
Since the homeowner was very concerned about mercury exposures and the carpet (planned to be removed for renovations) had a value directly on the carpet of over 300 ng/m3, the homeowner was referred to our State Toxicologist for further guidance. In addition, the homeowner questioned the Department staff with how to deal with the carpet. The homeowner expressed particular nervousness about exposures to mercury even in low numbers. Based on that concern, the responder explained two ways to minimize exposures to mercury: one way was to wear respiratory protection and another way was to hire a clean-up contractor. Since the homeowner did not have any respirator protection, the responder referred her to a commercial clean-up contractor. The responder further suggested that the homeowner talk with their homeowner’s insurance company to see if her policy would cover the cost of a professional clean-up contractor.
The homeowner did follow up with the State Toxicologist at the responder’s suggestion. The State Toxicologist talked with the responder about the values along with a discussion of the values over 300 ng/m3. The only value within the room that was over 300 ng/m3 was directly at the bulb breakage location on the carpet. Moving the Lumex instrument six to eight inches in either direction or up toward the ceiling dropped the value significantly. To visualize the area of high readings, it could be covered by a dinner plate. All other values in the room, including in the first floor room where some residue might have fallen through the vent, were well below the 300 ng/m3 action level. Based upon this information, the State Toxicologist assured the homeowner that the potential mercury exposure would be very low and likely of negligible health concern.
The homeowner called a clean-up contractor and got a quick quote for a mercury spill clean up. This price has been quoted in newspapers as being $2,000. Newspapers have also quoted the homeowner as stating that her insurance policy would not cover clean up costs.
The Department tried to reach the homeowner to determine the current levels of mercury on the one spot with readings over 300 ng/m3. The homeowner called the Department on May 15, 2007 and agreed to have the Department come to her house on Friday (May 18, 2007) to obtain measurements and potentially remove the carpet piece in question. Upon arrival on Friday, the Department responder found no measurements over 300 ng/m3, including at the point of impact. However, the carpet piece was removed by the responder at the request of the homeowner.
The Department notes that CFLs do contain a small amount of mercury, they do need to be properly cleaned up when broken, and they need to be taken to a recycling facility for fluorescent bulbs when being disposed of. The Department has a list of local recycling locations as well as directions on how to clean up a fluorescent light bulb breakage on its website www.MaineDEP.com . In addition, the Department is working with the Maine Public Utilities Commission to establish additional CFL collection locations at local hardware stores.
The Department has designed a controlled CFL breakage study which will begin the week of May 21st to test various clean-up options and techniques available to the homeowner. This experiment will provide more information to the Department to give future guidance based upon a study geared to the issues associated with CFL use in the home.
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