Broken Mercury Light Bulb On Carpet

Cfls contain mercury a potentially dangerous substance that escapes from broken cfls into the immediate surroundings and therefore the breakage of a cfl bulb should be handled by carefully.

Broken mercury light bulb on carpet.

You can limit contamination by gathering up the large pieces of the broken bulb into a bag and set the bag outside. Anything that rifles through the broken bits of your bulb is going to risk mercury contamination. After you ve gathered what you need re enter the room where the cfl bulb was broken. The droplets will evaporate faster and increase your chance of breathing high levels of mercury vapor.

Broken fluorescent bulbs and lamps fluorescent bulbs and lamps including compact fluorescent lights cfls contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing an average of 5 milligrams about the amount that would cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. And remove the vacuum bag or empty and wipe the canister and seal the bag vacuum debris and any materials used to clean the vacuum in a plastic bag. Tiny mercury droplets will settle throughout the area increasing the spread of the mercury in the room. By comparison older thermometers contain a 500 milligrams of mercury.

Broken glass from a shattered cup vase or light bulb is not only a nuisance to clean off of carpeting but also represents a hazard to anyone who walks in the area. They will be harder to clean up. As soon as the accident occurs. You ll also want to be sure not to use your vacuum as doing so will risk kicking mercury back up.

Scoop up the larger pieces of glass from the floor. Leave the windows vents and doors to the outside open in order to continue to let the mercury vapor dissipate. Place the shards into the glass jar or ziploc bag. If the lamp broke on a carpet you can vacuum but it.

Collect the following materials to clean up the broken bulb. The room should then be left to air out for an hour or so. Airout the room for 5 10 minutes by opening a window or door to the outdoor. Havepeople and pets leave the room.

The most important steps to reduce exposure to mercury vapor from a broken bulb are.