View report page

APPENDIX.
24th February, 1949.
To the Chairman and Members of the Public Health Committee.
Aldermen and Councillors,
Disposal of Fluorescent Lamp Tubes.
With the increasing use of fluorescent lighting in factories, offices, libraries,
shops, etc., throughout the Borough and the serious health hazards caused by
beryllium compounds which may be contained in these tubes it is considered
expedient to bring to the notice of the Committee the necessity for great care
to be exercised in the disposal of burnt-out tubes. Attention is directed to this
matter in the Industrial Accident Prevention Bulletin dated January, 1949, which
recommends the following procedure for this purpose:—
The tubes should be broken up under water as this is the only
positive way of preventing the dust of beryllium compounds from freeing
itself and being inhaled. Breaking up a tube in the open air or in front
of an exhaust fan is not considered sufficient, as even the smallest particle
of inhaled dust may be harmful. Moreover, if one person is selected to
dispose of all tubes in this way he will be periodically and frequently exposed
to such minute quantities and they may have a cumulative effect.
A drum filled with water and containing a removable fine wire mesh
basket should be set aside for the breaking up of tubes. The vacuum of
the lamp should be broken by knocking the cap off smartly and the rest of
the tube can then be broken up. The fragments of glass collected in the
mesh basket should be buried in waste ground. If they are dumped or
put in a dustbin someone may accidentally get a cut or puncture from the
broken glass.
An alternative to the above method is to put the tube in a sackcloth
bag, immerse it in a shallow tank or trough of water, and break it up with
an iron bar or similar object. The bag can then be buried.
The wearing of goggles and gloves as protection against flying glass
is desirable because it occasionally happens that a tube, although under
vacuum, will explode instead of collapsing inwards.
Where it is necessary to dispose of large numbers of burnt-out tubes
it may be worth while to construct a special cabinet the door of which,
when closed, breaks the tube into small fragments. These are collected
into a basket which is immersed in water at the bottom of the cabinet, and
are then removed and buried.
In no circumstances should tubes be set aside for dustmen or salvage
collectors who may not know of the hazards connected with these tubes,
nor of the correct methods of disposal.
If, in spite of all precautions, anyone is cut by a broken tube, normal
First Aid treatment should be given. If the cut is very bad, or if there
is any possibility that glass remains in the wound, hospital treatment
should be given. A careful watch must be kept on all wounds and if, at a
later date, a lump forms under the skin the patient should report to hospital.
(Such lumps may appear weeks, or even months, after the original injury.)
Whenever injured persons are taken to hospital, whether immediately or
after a lapse of time, the hospital authorities should be told that the wound
has been caused by a fluorescent tube and not by ordinary glass.
In conclusion, it may be said, that some manufacturers of fluorescent
tubes have now discontinued the use of beryllium compounds. Tubes
containing these compounds will, however, naturally remain in use for
some time to come and the above precautions should therefore be taken
unless it is known for certain that the tubes being disposed of do not
contain any harmful substance.