부산대학교 도서관

Despite the gradual replacement, fluorescent lamps are still utilized. They are present in urban waste, especially in developing and underdeveloped countries, where recycling rates are low, and lamps are often discarded without proper care. Lamps have toxic elements in its composition, such as Hg, Cd, and Pb, but the phosphor material is also rich in rare earth elements, which are emergent contaminants frequently neglected in environmental studies associated with fluorescent lamps. In this work, we evaluate the availability of toxic and potentially toxic elements that could be released into the environment in case of inappropriate disposal of lamps by leaching the phosphor material of fluorescent lamps with synthetic acid rain and landfill leachate solutions. Both solutions could leach elements; however, acid rain was more effective for most investigated elements, reaching 18.8 ± 0.9 mg kg−1 (Al) in active study. Leaching with landfill leachate reached 34.0 ± 1.0 mg kg−1 (Sr) in active study. For comparison purposes, the samples were submitted to a microwave-assisted extraction. The concentrations of Al, Ba, Ce, Cd, Cr, Eu, Hg, La, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Sr, and Y were determined in the sample, with concentrations from 8.01 ± 0.23 mg kg−1 (Cr) to 165 ± 5 g kg−1 (P). Low extraction percentages were observed with the single-run leaching experiment. Nevertheless, subsequent leaching events, which would occur in an actual disposal scenario, might increase the concentrations released to the environment, potentially causing local soil and water contamination.Graphic abstract: