A Report of Air Sampling for Mercury Vapor and Particulates During Fluorescent Tubes Disposal Operation Maywood, Illinois Survey date: 9/28/2000

Transcription

1 A Report of Air Sampling for Mercury Vapor and Particulates During Fluorescent Tubes Disposal Operation Maywood, Illinois Survey date: 9/28/2000 Prepared for: Air Cycle Corporation 2000 South 25 th Avenue, Suite C Broadview, Illinois Prepared by: Ambient Group, Inc. 444 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 1080 Chicago, IL (312) Project I.D.: C Date: 11/7/2000 Prepared and Signed for Ambient Group, Inc. by: Jigar M. Shah, MS Project Manager

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION PAGE # Executive Summary 1 Subject 2 Purpose 2 Methods 2 Discussion 3 Table I. Air Sampling Results Mercury Vapors 4 Table II. Air Sampling Results Mercury Particulates 5

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ambient Group, Inc. performed air sampling to measure concentration of airborne mercury during the operation of the Bulb Eater (Model BE-55-VRS), a disposal unit for fluorescent tubes. Air sampling was performed at the Air Cycle Corporation facility located at 2000 South 25 th Avenue, Broadview, Illinois. The sampling was performed on Thursday, September 28, The purpose of the sampling was to determine levels of airborne mercury vapor and particulates at the below listed locations during the bulb-disposal operation. 1. Between 2 nd and 3 rd stages of filtration 2. At the exhaust 3. Breathing zone of a person disposing bulbs (30-minutes and 8-hours) All samples collected outside the Bulb-Eater indicated airborne concentration of mercury vapor and particulates to be acceptable and below the permissible exposure levels adopted by OSHA. These samples were collected over an 8-hour sampling period during which 446 fluorescent bulbs were disposed into the Bulb- Eater.

4 SUBJECT Ambient Group, Inc. performed air sampling to measure concentration of airborne mercury vapor and particulates during the operation of the Bulb Eater (Model BE- 55-VRS), a disposal unit for fluorescent tubes. Air sampling was performed at the Air Cycle Corporation facility located at 2000 South 25 th Avenue, Broadview, Illinois. The sampling was performed on Thursday, September 28, PURPOSE The purpose of the sampling was to determine levels of airborne mercury vapor and particulates, both inside and outside of Bulb-Eater during the disposal operation. METHODS Sampling and analysis of airborne mercury was performed as per the NIOSH 6009 method. A detail description of NIOSH method 6009 is provided in Appendix A of this report.

5 DISCUSSION A total of three (3) samples, at normal room temperature (67 F) and relative humidity (42.6%), were collected over an 8-hour period, during which 446 fluorescent tubes were disposed into the Bulb Eater. Out of these three (3) samples, one (1) sample was collected from the exhaust stream of the Bulb Eater, between the 2 nd and 3 rd stages of cleaning. This sample was collected immediately after the HEPA filter and right before the activated carbon filter bank. The result of this sample indicated a concentration of 0.45 mg/m3 of airborne mercury vapor. Please note that no sample was collected to determine particulate concentration from this point. The 2 nd sample was collected at the downstream of the 3 rd stage filter, which is made of activated carbon. This sample was placed right outside the exhaust vent of Bulb-Eater. The result of this sample indicated airborne mercury vapor levels to be at 0.03 mg/m3 concentration. This level is much lower with respect to the mercury level found before the 3 rd stage cleaning. This level is also below the OSHA PEL of 0.05 mg/m3. The particulate sample collected from this point indicated a concentration of 0.06 ug/m3, which is far below the OSHA PEL of 10 ug/m3 (assuming the collected mercury is the alkyl compounds of mercury, which has more stringent regulation with respect to the aryl and inorganic mercury compounds). The 3 rd sample, which was collected to identify the exposure of person performing the bulb-disposal, was collected using two sampling cassettes: one for the 30- minute sampling, and the other one for the remaining 7 ½ hours of sampling. The sum of the concentrations found on these two cassettes indicates the total exposure over an 8-hour sampling period. Again, the vapor and particulate airborne mercury levels were found to be well below the OSHA PEL.

6 TABLE I AIRBORNE MERCURY VAPOR LEVELS Sample Location Sample Level (mg/m3) Standards/guidelines mg/m3 1. Inside Bulb-Eater: Between 2 nd and 3 rd OSHA PEL (skin) Stage Filter 2. Outside Bulb-Eater: At Exhaust NIOSH (skin) Personal Exposure (8-hours) minute mg/m3 450-minute mg/m3 4. Blank N/A PEL - Permissible Exposure Limit (8-hour time weighted average) TLV - Threshold Limit Value (8-hour time weighted average)

7 TABLE II AIRBORNE MERCURY PARTICULATE LEVELS Sample Location Sample Level (ug/m3) Standards/guidelines ug/m3 5. Outside Bulb-Eater: At Exhaust 0.06 OSHA PEL (skin) Personal Exposure (8-hours) <0.03 (Alkyl Compounds) 30-minute <0.03 ug/m3 OSHA PEL (skin) minute <0.03 ug/m3 (Aryl & Inorganic) 7. Blank N/A PEL - Permissible Exposure Limit (8-hour time weighted average) TLV - Threshold Limit Value (8-hour time weighted average)