Environmental Reference Data

The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) requirements, previously known as the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) requirements, of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for chemicals are not applicable to manufactured articles such as lamps.

The following Lamp Material information sheets contain applicable Safety Data Sheet (SDS) information are formatted as PDFs. 

TCLP Compliant

Ecolux^® low mercury products are environmentally preferable to standard fluorescent lamps, pass TCLP tests and can be disposed of without costly hazardous waste fees.

What is the TCLP Test?

TCLP is one of the Federal EPA test methods that are used to characterize waste as either hazardous or non-hazardous for the purpose of disposal. TCLP is an acronym for Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. It is performed by environmental testing labs.

What does the TCLP test measure?

The TCLP test does not measure total mercury content; rather, it measures the potential for mercury to seep or "leach" into groundwater if a waste is landfill disposed.

In the TCLP test, lamps are crushed into small pieces and mixed with an acidic solution. The acidic solution is then filtered from the lamp pieces. If less than 0.2 mg of mercury are found per liter of acidic test solution, the waste is characterized as non-hazardous waste under federal law.

Non-Hazardous Waste

In most states, there are no special disposal requirements for non-hazardous waste lamps. However, some states ban landfill disposal of all mercury-container products.

How does the Ecolux^® fluorescent lamp design differ from traditional fluorescent lamp designs?

The mercury content of Ecolux^® lamps has been reduced by over 80% versus traditional fluorescent lamp designs. Ecolux® lamps contain approximately 1/3000 oz of mercury

To assure long life, advanced coating technologies have been developed to minimize the absorption of mercury within the lamp.

Additionally, Ecolux^® lamps use an exclusive material design that helps to prevent the small amount of mercury in the lamp from forming mercury compounds which may leach into groundwater after lamp disposal.

Why do fluorescent lamps contain mercury?

Mercury is used to generate light in all fluorescent lamps. When electric current passes through mercury vapor, the mercury emits ultraviolet energy. When this ultra-violet energy passes through the phosphor coating, it produces light very efficiently.

As the lamp operates, the mercury is slowly absorbed by the various internal parts of the lamp. Because mercury is consumed during lamp operation, a certain amount of mercury is necessary to achieve a long lamp life. The significantly reduced amount of mercury in Ecolux lamps is designed to optimize the balance between long lamp life and environmental concerns.