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Hi,

I believe most bulb manufacturers will take spent HBO bulbs back for  
disposal as long as they are unbroken, shipped in their original  
packaging and marked as "for disposal".  Note that it is essential to  
use the original packaging - mercury is a restricted air cargo!

If an HBO bulb does explode or is broken, the room should be  
evacuated and ventilated thoroughly to make sure any mercury vapour  
is removed.  Any mercury residue should be cleaned up with a mercury  
spills kit and disposed of as hazardous mercury waste.

Cold HBO bulbs should not present a significant explosion hazard -  
they are at roughly atmospheric pressure.  Hot HBO lamps are at very  
high pressure and are a considerable hazard - the lamp enclosure  
should be designed to withstand the explosion though (i.e. never  
remove a hot or warm lamp from its housing).

http://www.exfo-lifesciences.com/products/X-cite/ 
LampSafetyInstructions.pdf
http://dafnwebpd.sylvania.com/os_filenet_pages/FnDocIdDisplay.asp? 
docid=003673674

Cold XBO (Xenon) lamps are a different story.  These lamps are highly  
pressurised even when cold and are a considerable hazard at all  
times.  Protective clothing (leather gauntlets, face shield, lab  
coat) should be worn when handling a lamp outside a lamp-house or its  
protective perspex packaging.  Most lamp-house manufacturers sell  
appropriate handling kits, e.g. from Zeiss:


> for handling XBO lamps the following protection equipment is  
> available at
> Zeiss:
>
>    Protective gloves          417008-0000-000
>    Face protection shield     417009-0000-000
>
> In terms of body protection a cotton smock with long sleeves will be
> sufficient.
>

http://www.ushio.com/support_lampsafety.htm#3
http://dafnwebpd.sylvania.com/os_filenet_pages/FnDocIdDisplay.asp? 
docid=003673675

Finally I would check the documentation that came with *your* lamp  
and the rules your institution has about arc lamps and mercury spills  
- they may be more stringent than what I have written!

Cheers,

Steve.

On 14 Sep 2005, at 21:52, Stephen C. Kempf wrote:

> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>
> I guess I would add to Doug's questions,
>
> What are the proper procedures when a bulb does explode (i.e.  
> immediately leave the room?)?
>
> and
>
> what are the proper procedures for safe clean-up after a bulb  
> explodes?
>
> Steve
>
> On Sep 14, 2005, at 3:07 PM, Doug Cromey wrote:
>
>
>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>>
>> I've seen the damage that a hot arc lamp bulb can do to a lamp  
>> housing when it explodes.  What I don't know is if the old bulbs  
>> are an explosion hazard.
>>
>> What do your institutions require for the disposal of Hg lamp  
>> bulbs?  If there's no official policy, what's the going "folk  
>> wisdom" on proper disposal?
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Doug
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> Douglas W. Cromey, M.S. - Assistant Scientific Investigator
>> Dept. of Cell Biology & Anatomy, University of Arizona
>> 1501 N. Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ  85724-5044   USA
>>
>> office:  AHSC 4212A             email: [log in to unmask]
>> voice:  520-626-2824            fax:  520-626-2097
>>
>> http://swehsc.pharmacy.arizona.edu/exppath/
>> Home of: "Microscopy and Imaging Resources on the WWW"
>

Steve Baxter
Software Development Manager
Improvision
+44-2476-692229