How are mercury-containing lamps regulated under federal laws?
Determining whether your mercury-containing lamp is hazardous waste: Under federal regulations, the vast majority of mercury-containing lamps are considered a hazardous waste. Note that if you do not test your mercury-containing lamps and prove them non-hazardous, assume they are hazardous waste and handle them accordingly. Testing to determine if your lamp is a hazardous waste: Under federal regulations, a lamp is considered a hazardous waste if it exhibits the characteristic of hazardous waste toxicity. Generators must determine whether or not a lamp exhibits this characteristic by using the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) to test the lamp. This test measures the leachability of certain metals, including mercury, and organic constituents. Under this procedure, the waste leachate must contain less than 0.2 milligrams per liter (mg/L) of mercury in order to pass the test (see 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 261.24 . Lamps that pass the TCLP are not hazardous
