(in German)

The Energy Consuming Products Act (Energieverbrauchsrelevante-Produkte-Gesetz, EVPG) from 25.11.2011 based on the European Parliament and Council Directive 2005/32/EC states that high energyconsuming technologies and products must be substituted bymore effective procedures; therefore, the sale of electric lightbulbs was limited and will be completely banned after 2016. The result was an increasing production of energy-saving lightbulbs with the additional benefit of an approximately 10 times longer life span. The disadvantage is that the construction of energy-saving lightbulbs requires the use of mercury. Meanwhile, the emergence of mercury-free LED lightbulbs has stimulated a change in trend and energy-saving lightbulbs will be driven out of the market in the future. During this prolonged process professional waste management (availability) for discarded lightbulbs is required. Discarded lightbulbs are collected by the manufacturer take-back systems (Lightcycle) and municipal waste collection points. Employees are in contact with hazardous mercury which might be related to potential health risks. This study analyzed the occupational exposure to mercury by air monitoring and biological monitoring. Compared to the background, mercury air concentrations were slightly elevated at specifically exposed locations (e. g. collecting casks and post pallets) although this did not result in detection of increasedmercury concentrations in the urine of the employees. In conclusion, an additional health risk was not detected.

This article is published in the Journal "Zentralblatt für Arbeitsmedizin, Arbeitsschutz und Ergonomie" (2016).

Please download the article "Mercury exposure due to withdrawn energy-saving lightbulbs in municipal waste collection sites" (in German only).