89 North, an employee owned company located in Burlington, Vermont has introduced an incentive program aimed at reducing the amount of mercury waste generated in scientific laboratories across the country. Mercury arc lamps are a common tool used in many labs, specifically those performing fluorescence microscopy. Unfortunately, a typical arc lamp can contain as much as 150 mg of mercury and have a useful lifetime of only 100-200 hours. This means that a typical lab will go through 3-4 lamps per year, creating a significant amount of dangerous mercury waste.
The PhotoFluor II light source from 89 North uses a high power metal halide lamp with a useful life nearly 10 times longer than that of a mercury arc lamp. In addition, a metal halide lamp uses 25% less mercury than an arc lamp of comparable power. As a result, each lab could significantly reduce the amount of mercury waste by replacing their current mercury arc lamp with a metal halide lamp like the PhotoFluor II.
To encourage labs to make the switch, 89 North is offering a $300.00 credit toward the cost of a new PhotoFluor II in exchange for turning in their old mercury arc lamp system. 89 North will then handle the proper disposal of the old lamp and lamp housing in an environmentally friendly manner.
“We are very excited by this program,” says 89 North’s General Manager, Chris Baumann. “This is an excellent opportunity for us to do something that can really help the environment. Our parent company, Chroma Technology Corp, is well respected for both their socially and environmentally sound policies and we are following in their footsteps.”
Source: 89 North. 10.19.2009