Mercury Pollution, Treatment and Solutions in Spent Fluorescent Lamps in Mainland China

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 15; no. 12; p. 2766
• Main Authors: Li, Zhongguo, Jia, Puqi, Zhao, Fu, Kang, Yikun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06.12.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: China; Coal-fired power plants; Conservation of Natural Resources - methods; Consumption; Efficiency; Electric power generation; Emissions; Energy; Energy conservation; Environmental Pollution - analysis; Environmental Pollution - prevention & control; Environmental protection; Fluorescent lamps; Fluorescent lighting; Fuzzy sets; Household Articles; Incandescent lamps; Industrial plant emissions; Lamps; Light emitting diodes; Lighting - instrumentation; Lighting - trends; Manufacturers; Mercury; Mercury - analysis; Mercury pollution; Pollution; Pollution control; Refuse Disposal - methods; Refuse Disposal - statistics & numerical data; Steel production; Values; Viewpoint; China; mercury pollution; treatment; fluorescent lamps; LED; spent fluorescent lamps; mainland China
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15122766

With the increasing awareness of energy conservation and environmental protection, high energy-consuming incandescent lamps have been largely withdrawn from the stage of mainland China's lighting industry because the main raw material for electricity production-coal-produces mercury pollution when burned and energy-saving fluorescent lamps have made considerable progress. However, fluorescent lamps emit mercury, which still causes environmental pollution. In this work, the existing problems in the development of fluorescent lamps, and in the collection and treatment of spent fluorescent lamps were analyzed. The contributions of various external factors to the above problems were evaluated based on fuzzy theory. Finally, solutions to control the pollution of mercury from fluorescent lamps and spent fluorescent lamps were proposed. Results show that the biggest problem that causes mercury pollution is the first among three factors: energy conservation and mercury emission from fluorescent lamps and spent fluorescent lamps, spent fluorescent lamp collection and spent fluorescent lamp treatment. The best way to solve these problems is by developing an energy-saving and environment-friendly light emitting diode (LED) industry in mainland China.