smashed uv tube dangers?

fuzzhc · 08-13-13, 06:08 AM

Last night I came home from work to find that one of the uv tubes in the monitor enclosure had fallen down and smashed on the back wall. I dont think that the bosc pulled it down, it looked more like the plastic bracket had became brittle from heat and humidity.

I cleaned up the glass and scooped out some top layers of dirt where the glass was. Are there any dangers of the bulb breaking besides the glass? Is there a risk of any poisoning or illness?

Thanks in advance

infernalis · 08-13-13, 06:12 AM

I would scrape out a few inches of the dirt everywhere lamp debris is/was...

Those lamps contain mercury and phsphor salts, so getting it all is important enough to sacrifice a bit of dirt to get it out.

Air out the cage (it's faster to blow it out with a window fan for a few minutes) and you should be fine.

fuzzhc · 08-13-13, 06:16 AM

Cheers Wayne ill get right on it and hopefully he hasnt inhaled too much vapour by now.

formica · 08-13-13, 06:46 AM

there are lots of other issues surrounding those 2 chemicals, and mercury can affect kidney function, which means the body is less able to remove phosphorus, compounding the problem. its worth reading up a bit so you can be sure what you are looking for, but some symptoms include coordination and sight problems, skin problems (pealing, itching), breathing problems among others of varying severity.

I stopped using tubes a long time ago because of this issue, CFLs are easier to keep out of the way because of their size, and the manufacturers claim they are more effective at longer distances, 60cm range for CFL, as apposed to 20cm for tubes, i'd imagine 60cm is an optimistic marketing range rather than a real world application, but its stil allot better than tubes can manage.

fuzzhc · 08-13-13, 06:53 AM

When I went to feed him earlier on he ate 2 Sun beetle grubs and closed his eyes when I tried to feed him his first dubia. Now this is a big change from almost biting my fingers off whilst gulping down mice and prawns. I just hope its not too late.

I have a cfl in there at the moment, I was just really using the tubes for the light as they are too far away for them to have any affect I'd imagine. Im going to homebase to have a look at alternative lighting in a bit.

Ill try read up a bit on that just now if I can find anything thanks!

infernalis · 08-13-13, 07:11 AM

Mercury poisoning is not sudden, since it is a heavy metal, absorption is gradual.

Hatters usually took years to go mad, and that was from daily exposure to entire bottles of mercury. (Used foolishly once as a felt polish to make gentleman's hats shiny)

Mercury was once commonly used as a dental amalgam to make "fillings", I bet some of you reading this right now still have a blob of mercury amalgam in one or more teeth.

The mercury content in marine life (like Tuna) is from disposal of MILLIONS of these lamps in landfills over decades of time, leaching into runoff water.

One lamp contains a very tiny bead the size of a pinhead, exposure has only been hours, even if your Bosc actually ate that tiny droplet, maybe just maybe one day down the road some damage may come of it.

Honestly, I would have a deeper concern that the lizard may ingest a shard of glass and scratch up it's digestive tract, but then again, can it be much sharper than a crushed snail shell?

formica · 08-13-13, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

Mercury poisoning is not sudden, since it is a heavy metal, absorption is gradual.

inhaling mercury vapour causes irritation in the lungs almost immediately, but most of the dangerous effects of mercury do require long term exposure as you say - in the short term, a single small dose of mercury is unlikley to cause serious problems as it can be removed quickly by the kidneys, but a tiny fraction of it does remain in the body, and this is why long term exposure is a problem, because it builds up

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzhc

When I went to feed him earlier on he ate 2 Sun beetle grubs and closed his eyes when I tried to feed him his first dubia.

My Sav closes his eyes if he's not interested in the food i'm dangling in front of him, and he's consistently refused dubias, doing the same thing, closing his eyes and ignoring it...hopefully he'll change his mind, because I want to stop with the crickets and locusts lol

main thing you need to watch out for is respiratory problems, but as said, long term exposure is significantly more of a problem

fuzzhc · 08-13-13, 07:39 AM

Thanks again guys I was beginning to panic seen as he refused his food. He doesnt usually. Hopefully he doesnt refuse the dubias much longer as he doesnt even look at crickets and locusts are too dear to keep up with and crap for breeding lol.

Im not too concerned about the glass just now. Unless its something he is familiar with like mice, rats, locusts, prawns etc he will never rush into eating it but rather has a good few tongue flicks to see if its edible.

I have cleared out some dirt and aired it out for an hour or so when I came home and realised. I just dont know how long he had been sitting in there like that for as I was working longer than usual.

Ill keep a close eye out on his breathing and anything else out of the norm. Are there any safer tubes I could use for lighting or would they all contain mercury?

infernalis · 08-13-13, 07:51 AM

Unfortunately, it's the mercury vapour that produces the UV we are after.

When excited in a plasma state, it radiates the perfect spectrum.

In fact, tanning beds would be useless without this property.

Short answer - no "mercury free" UV lamps yet.

L.E.D. technology holds promise one day, but they are monochromatic by nature, and it requires an array of LEDs operating at varying wavelengths to achieve results, and even then, the animal has to practically lay directly on them to receive enough exposure to even matter.

fuzzhc · 08-13-13, 08:13 AM

Sorry meant to say for lighting in general without uvb lol. Like do household fluorescent tubes still contain mercury or any other kind? The enclosure is looking rather dingey with only 3 halogens and a cfl to light it and im thinking this could affect his feeding response

formica · 08-13-13, 08:19 AM

for normal lighting, LED's are great, low power and heat, so they wont upset your enclosures ecosystem

you can get LED lights in GU10 fitting, which is the same as the micro spot halogens, I use loads in diffrent enclosures, from 2W to 12W, most likley you wont need more than 5W, and you can get a cheap GU10 3 way light fitting from argos for less than a tenner, LED bulbs on ebay range from about 3 quid to 12 quid each, anything between 2 and 5W is fine, and they last for a year or two minimum

all florescent tubes contain chemicals that you dont want to inhale

fuzzhc · 08-13-13, 08:46 AM

Nice one cheers ill get an LED from homebase later tonight then

infernalis · 08-13-13, 05:35 PM

Yes, for general lighting LED is awesome, I have bunches of them for everything from my living room to my camper to my animal cages.

I actually wired a cage once with 12 volt LED because the humidity was high and my tree snake kept getting into the lighting, the low voltage worked wonderfully in preventing electrical disaster.