Remediation of Mercury-Contaminated Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Facility.
Roland, Andrew.
2015
-
Abstract: Mercury
contamination present in existing industrial structures creates challenging
environmental problems when it comes time to rehabilitate and reuse the facilities. Very
little practical knowledge exists to effectively clean and remove mercury from
contaminated buildings. The purpose of this thesis was to 1) present decontamination
screening methods that can be used to determine ... read morethe effectiveness of mercury cleaning
strategies, and 2) provide clearance sampling methodologies used to evaluate building
cleanliness, and support the conclusion that the facility is adequately cleaned with
respect to mercury contamination and ready for reuse. This thesis is based on a
case-study of a remediation project performed at a mercury-contaminated fluorescent lamp
recycling facility in Massachusetts (USA), and presents the strategies developed to
clean the building and assess cleanliness. The methods described here showed that
properly specified and implemented surface decontamination techniques can adequately
reduce airborne mercury contamination by more than three (3) orders of magnitude within
the structure. Analysis of mercury sampling results supports the conclusion that the air
quality in all areas of the facility was significantly improved, and was nearly at the
background levels after decontamination efforts were completed. The thesis presents a
variety of practical and reproducible measures to decontaminate and evaluate cleanliness
of buildings that have been contaminated through industrial
activities.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2015.
Submitted to the Dept. of Civil Engineering.
Advisor: John Durant.
Committee: David Gute, and Michael Walters.
Keywords: Environmental engineering, Environmental science, and Environmental health.read less - ID:
- v979vf76s
- Component ID:
- tufts:21518
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
